The Kings of Magnolia
by ViciousBluesummers
Summary: AU: Gray Fullbuster is a top guy in the most well respected crime syndicate in Magnolia. However, he's become a bit disillusioned with the lifestyle and wonders if this is really all that's left for him. Maybe he just needs someone to show him a way out. Bad summary, I know.
1. Chapter 1: Breakfast

Author's Note: Well, first time for everything I guess. Go easy on me.

**The Kings of Magnolia**

Chapter 1: Breakfast

Fairy Tail. The most popular bar in Magnolia, and possibly all of Fiore, was just about damn near empty. Not because it was a slow day or anything, but because it was only 9:45 AM and the place usually opened at 12 in the afternoon. The only people occupying the establishment were a group of five young men, a lone female chef, and their 67 year old boss Makarov Dreyar. Now Makarov was not only the boss and owner of Fairy Tail, but he was also the boss of the most respected crime syndicate in Magnolia: The Family. He worked his way up from the slums of the city to create one of the most feared organizations around. You would think that a person with his profile would be quite the intimidating fellow, even for an elder. In actuality, the man stood about 5'1, was bald save for some white hair hanging off the sides of his head, and constantly wore a smile on his face. He always gave of the impression that he was always happy to see you, even if he wasn't.

And today, on this Thursday morning, he was having breakfast with his 'children'.

"These pancakes are delicious Mira. You've really outdone yourself this time." Makarov continued to dig into his stack of blueberry pancakes with absolute joy.

"Thank you boss! Only the best for the family." Responded the white-haired beauty from behind the bar counter. She gave Makarov the sweetest smile, the kind of smile that could give you diabetes, before handing a refilled glass of orange juice to a pink haired man sitting beside the boss. "Here you go Natsu, drink up."

"Thanks! And yeah, this is the kind of food that makes you wish you had four stomachs, like a cow or some shit. That way I could keep eating all day!" Shouted an excited Natsu Dragneel. He then turned to his left and spoke to a man with long black hair and whose face had some prominent piercings on it. "What about you Gajeel? Foods good as always right?"

"Yeah, it's good, now will you keep your goddamn voice down? It's still too freakin' early for your loud bullshit." Gajeel Redfox kept his face focused on his plate. As usual, he wanted no part of Natsu's nonsense, especially this early in the day. "Damn man, just trying to be nice to you and all. Whatever, I'm just gonna concentrate on finishing these delicious hotcakes and pretend your angry, ugly ass doesn't exist." Natsu responded. Gajeel gritted his teeth as he bit onto his food, but proceeded to ignore the pink-haired loudmouth. Mira laughed at their little exchange and headed back into the kitchen to help her younger brother Elfman clean up.

Makarov turned to the only person sitting on his right. "You're gonna regret not having breakfast m'boy; this was absolutely delicious, Laxus." said Makarov as he was finishing up his morning meal. His grandson, a tall, blonde-haired man simply shook his head, picked up his cup of coffee, took a sip and responded. "It's fine gramps, I'm keeping my stomach as empty as I can. When we're done with Jellal, Freed, Ever, and Bickslow are gonna meet us up by the docks and we're gonna try out that new seafood joint that just opened." The boss nodded in response. "Yes, that place is Lamia owned. Let me know how the food is; I kinda hope it isn't great, that way I'd have something to tease Ooba about when I see her at meetings."

Sitting quietly at the left of Gajeel was Gray Fullbuster. He hadn't said a word since breakfast started and spent most of his time just picking at his food with his fork in his right hand while the palm of his left was placed lazily under his chin. Makarov knew from the beginning that something was a little off about Gray today, but decided to wait until he had finished his meal to say anything. Wiping his mouth clean with a napkin, the elder boss man leaned over the mahogany counter, turned his head over to Gray and spoke. "Gray, you've hardly eaten. Feeling sick?" Everyone turned to look at Gray, to which they all finally noticed that 85 percent of his food was still on his plate.

"Holy hell man, you haven't eaten anything! You want me to finish that for you? Can't let stuff like that go to waste." said a wide-eyed Natsu, hoping Gray would comply with his offer. Gray dropped the fork and ran his hand through his short, messy, dark hair and sighed. "Nah gramps, I'm good. Just…didn't get much sleep last night is all." There was more going on in Gray's head, but this wasn't the time to start dumping his thoughts on everybody. Besides, Gray was usually the type to handle his problems on his own. Why change that now?

"I see. You must have been up all last night because you just couldn't wait to see Jellal for the first time outside of prison in two years." Makarov said with a smile.

"Yeah…that's it gramps. I just couldn't wait." Gray took a sip of his still nearly full glass of orange juice and continued to keep his head down. Makarov didn't really believe him, but decided to leave it at that. He would get another opportunity to bring this up to him.

"Speaking of which, what time is it? Shouldn't he be getting released soon." said Gajeel, placing his utensils on his empty plate. Laxus took a look at his wrist-watch. "10:13 AM everyone. Let's wrap this up; he should be getting out in the next fifteen minutes."

Everyone nodded in understanding and proceeded to clean themselves up before hitting the road. Makarov stood and spoke to his boys. "Okay, Laxus and I will be in his car, Gajeel, you drive Gray and Natsu in yours." Gajeel started to swing his keys on his finger and walked towards the exit of Fairy Tail while Natsu followed cheerfully behind him.

"Sorry to leave such a mess Mira; the pancakes were absolutely delicious!" shouted Makarov. "Don't worry about it boss! Elfman and I have no problem cleaning up. We have to get this place ready soon anyway." replied Mirajane as she poked her head out from behind the kitchen door. "Tell Jellal I said 'hi'"

"We will!" The boss man then turned over to Gray who still stood by the bar. "Ready to move?" Gray sighed and nodded in response. "Yeah..." Gray put both hands in the pockets of his jeans and made his way towards the exit where Gajeel and Natsu were waiting for him.

"What's up with him? Figured he'd be a little more excited." asked a puzzled Laxus. "I'm not quite sure myself, but I'll have him speak when he's ready." responded Makarov.

"C'mon, let's not keep Jellal waiting." Laxus nodded and they both made their way to the car.


	2. Chapter 2: Pain

AN: Here we go again and much longer this time. Please, enjoy.

**The Kings of Magnolia**

Chapter 2: Pain

Jellal Fernandes was finally free. The days of living in a six by eight prison cell were over. Looking over his shoulder, he saw the large chain-link fence/door close behind him. Hopefully, that would be the last he ever saw of the Magnolia Correctional Institute, he thought to himself.

He came out wearing what he had on when he was arrested: Black hooded trench-coat, white t-shirt, dark blue jeans, and black boots. He noticed the smell of lavender detergent coming off of his clothing. This made him smile. "How nice of them…" he said to no one. Jellal sighed and continued to make his way to the street in front of him. As he got closer to the sidewalk, he witnessed two black luxury cars pull up in front of him. 'Here they are' he thought.

Laxus hopped out the driver's seat and opened the passenger side door for Makarov to exit. Gajeel and his crew, Natsu and Gray, also made their presence known to Jellal, emerging from their car. Boss man Makarov was the first to approach the smiling Jellal Fernandes.

"My dear boy, come here and give gramps a hug." He made his way closer to Jellal with open arms. Jellal smiled at the old boss and leaned into the shorter man's embrace. "Glad to be back in your presence Makarov. Although I must say, I'm a little surprised to see you here. Aren't you still one of the busiest men in all of Fiore? I'm sure you had some more important business to take care of."

"Nonsense Jellal. It is true; there are other pressing matters that do require my attention. But when one of my children comes home from doing time, especially in your case, witnessing their return to society will always come first. I missed you kid." Makarov patted Jellal's back and released him from the embrace.

Two years ago, Jellal was arrested for being at the docks by the Magnolia River on the east end of town. Shipments of stolen diamonds were making their way in, and Jellal was sent there to help pick them up. However, the police stormed the place. While a lot of guys managed to escape the ambush, Jellal was one of the unlucky few who got cuffed. He spent many days in and out of court - He got to experience the merry-go-round ride that was the justice system.

Eventually, it all came down to a single choice: Give up Makarov's name and involvement in the stolen diamond shipments, or spend two years of your life in a maximum-security prison.

For Jellal, the choice was easy. And here he was, two years later, meeting with his family in front of said maximum-security prison.

"I hope Bruno and everyone did their best for you while you were on the inside." said Makarov.

"They did what they could. I wouldn't say I lived like a king in there, but I'm pretty sure I did better than most of my fellow inmates. Did a good job of keeping me safe, too; I'm in their debt, as well as yours." responded Jellal.

"Good to have you back my man." Laxus approached his tattoo-faced friend, and pulled him into a quick embrace.

"Thanks Laxus. Good to see you too."

"My turn now!" yelled an overtly excited Natsu. He threw an arm around Jellal's shoulders and pulled him in tightly. "Feels great to see the Family's pretty boy as a free man again. Watch out Gray, it looks like you aren't getting any pussy anymore."

Gray crossed his arms and frowned at Natsu's statement. There had been a lot of jokes going around for the past two years about how Gray was the second string ladies' man in comparison to Jellal. It's not like Gray wanted all the attention from the females, but considering how much the man liked to walk around shirtless, especially in the summer, he was pretty much asking for it. At the very least, with Jellal's return, Gray could take comfort in knowing that he wouldn't be hearing that many 'pretty boy' jokes anymore.

"Heh, same old Natsu" Jellal smiled. He then looked over to Gray and nodded. "Thanks for being here for my return Gray."

Gray returned the nod and kept his hands in his pockets "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

Gajeel then approached Jellal and shook the man's hand. In proper Gajeel fashion, he kept it short and sweet. "Welcome home."

"Thank you Gajeel. Good to see you're also doing well. All of you, really" Jellal responded.

* * *

After about 5 more minutes of chit-chat, the gang split into two again. Laxus and Makarov took off to visit some of Makarov's other businesses he owned; the man spent far too much time at Fairy Tail. Couldn't blame the man though, it was the first business he had ever bought and invested in. And it was also a favorite amongst the rest of the members of his Family.

The other crew, now including Jellal, was on their way back to their respective destinations. The ride was quite lively. Natsu spent most of the time pestering the driver, Gajeel, and would occasionally ask Jellal about prison life. Natsu had always been the loudest of the bunch, and it didn't seem like that was going to change anytime soon.

Throughout the ride, however, Jellal noticed that Gray wasn't saying a thing. He sat in the backseat with Gray and kept his eyes on the dark-haired man almost the entire drive. Gray's eyes never left his window. He would at times run a hand through his hair, but then would continue looking out the window again; the side of his face resting on his fist.

Jellal wanted to say something, but they had their private time coming up anyway. For the past two years, Jellal had Gray do him a huge favor. One that lasted the entire time Jellal was up north.

Gray and Jellal were both dropped off at the former's apartment. Natsu complained to Jellal about why he wanted to stay with 'Gray the Mute' instead of following him and Gajeel back to Fairy Tail. Jellal grinned and told him that he'd see them soon. That he would make an appearance later that night. Natsu groaned, but accepted the man's choice. Natsu and Gajeel took off and left the two at Gray's place.

"Nice apartment. I can see that you've been putting a lot of work in for the Family." Jellal said as he took a seat on Gray's black leather couch.

"I do what I gotta do for gramps. It's nothing special." Gray deadpanned, taking a seat at the dinner table, looking away from Jellal.

Neither of them spoke a word for the next couple of minutes; 120 seconds seemed like an eternity.

"Wanna tell me what's up?" Jellal broke the silence.

"Not sure what you mean by that."

"You know what I'm talking about Gray. You were never the loudest guy in the room, but you did talk. I know you have it in you to talk, so…talk."

"…She's usually home around 5:30"

"Huh?"

"Erza, she usually ditches work ar-"

"Don't change the subject on me Fullbuster!" Jellal got up and made his way towards the table, taking a seat right next to the scowling Gray.

"What's wrong man, why don't you wanna talk this out?" Jellal's eyes followed Gray, no matter where he tried to turn his head.

"Can we drop it? I don't feel like talking about this. Besides, you're only with me because I'm taking you to see her."

"That may be true, but I still think of you as a brother, so your current emotional state distresses me. Also, 5:30 is a long time from now, so the least you could do is keep me entertained. And you can start by telling me what the hell your deal is."

Gray looked at the clock on his fridge. 11:05 AM. Shit.

He let out a huge sigh and finally locked eyes with Jellal, realizing that he wasn't gonna give up. "You're gonna hate me when I say this, but…can it wait till we get to Erza's?" Gray asked.

Jellal face palmed and proceeded to rub his eyes. "Why on the ride?" Jellal asked incredulously.

"Just accept it okay? I'll talk, but let it be on my own time."

"Whatever then; at least you have a 70" inch television to occupy my time with." Jellal got up and made his way back to the couch.

Gray stayed sitting at the table for a few more minutes before getting up. "I'm gonna take a nap." he announced.

"Yeah…" responded a channel surfing Jellal.

Gray made his way to his bedroom, unbuttoned his shirt, threw it on the floor and collapsed onto his bed. He closed his eyes and eagerly accepted the sleep that was about to consume him.

* * *

They sat in Gray's car, parked across the street from a row of apartment houses. It was at one of these apartment buildings that Erza Scarlet called her home.

"Which one is Erza's again? " asked Jellal.

Gray lifted his finger and pointed at a blue building about two houses down from where they were parked. "That one right there; she should arrive in the next 15 minutes or so."

"…Okay" Jellal responded.

Gray crossed his arms and began staring out of his window again.

"So, here we are; ready to talk?" Jellal said, waiting for Gray's response.

The dark-haired man sighed and rested his forehead on the driver's side window. "I don't know what else to do with myself anymore."

"Go on…" replied the blue-haired passenger.

"I don't know if its boredom, or if I'm finally starting to feel like a sinner."

"You think your life is starting to catch up with you?"

"I can't really say. I mean, I know what we do is legally unacceptable and all, but gramps is a good guy. He's done a shit ton for me, for everyone really. I don't feel as bad as I should when I put in work for him; it's crazy, but that numbness to guilt is actually starting to bug me now. Like, why doesn't doing dirt bug me like it should?" Gray asked.

"And at the same time, the work doesn't…I don't know…excite me as much anymore." Gray lifted his head from the window and turned to his friend. "You get me?"

Jellal folded his hands and placed them on his stomach. He looked up at the sunroof of the car and watched the clouds move. "I think I do. And I think I get you because I've seen what the other side looks like."

Gray knew where this was headed. "You mean Erza, right?"

"Yeah…" Jellal nodded. "You see the guilt thing is interesting because I didn't start to feel it until I got to know her. I admired her determination. When I met her she was just a struggling hair stylist trying to make a living, bouncing from one shitty salon to the next. Now, with the info you've sent me while I was away, she's become a manager at Mermaid Hell; the most popular salon in all of Magnolia. She's also got a pretty decent place here uptown" Jellal said.

"We're both 25 years old, but I'm fresh out of prison and she's worked her ass off to make something of herself. Sure, I've got myself a bit of money, too, but none of it was earned the way a regular, decent human being earns their bread. I feel like I cheated, and that's where the guilt comes in." Jellal ended.

"I see…" Gray leaned over the steering wheel, eyes looking down the street. "You've thought a lot about this, haven't you?"

Jellal looked toward his friend. "2 years in the box…you get a lot of time to think."

Most of Jellal's time in prison was spent thinking about the year leading up to his arrest; like the first time he met Erza, when she stepped into Fairy Tail to grab herself a drink after a stressful day of work. Jellal remembered coming back from a job and wanting to just relax after running a few 'errands'. He remembered taking a seat at the bar counter and had Mira bring him a glass of scotch.

That's when he turned to his right and saw the most beautiful red head he had ever laid eyes on. And for the first time in Jellal's life, he felt like he had no choice but to approach the woman, instead of the other way around.

At first, Erza was a little suspicious of the blue-haired man. Jellal was a handsome guy, but it's normal for people to be weary of individuals with tattoos on their faces. But Jellal was persistent, and continued to talk to the woman. He had done his best to keep the conversation about her; there was no way in hell he was letting her in on the person he truly was. Jellal had lied and said he worked at the docks, moving crates and things of that nature.

He didn't feel guilty at the time. He just wanted to say whatever, as long as it would keep Erza in front of him. And it worked, because the two talked and talked till they were the only ones left in Fairy Tail. They exchanged information and that was the start of their relationship.

Jellal had a ton of great memories of her; the dates, the times spent at each other's homes, all the teasing from the Family members. Jellal was the happiest he had ever been. And even though most of the guys didn't quite comprehend the concept of love, they all felt good for him anyway.

Gray and Jellal sat in silence for a few more minutes until Gray noticed a red sports car pull up.

"She's here…"

Jellal immediately sat straight up and watched as the car parked in front of the blue apartment building.

Gray watched as Erza Scarlet emerged from the automobile. She looked gorgeous as always. She had on black heels, black stockings, a black skirt that cut well above the knee, and a very tight fitting white blouse. Oh, and of course, her perfectly done, signature long, red hair waved like a flag behind her. Gray followed the beautiful woman's movements as she pulled out her keys and opened the door to enter her home.

"She looks good, right?" Jellal asked.

Gray snapped his head back to meet Jellal's questioning gaze.

"Uh, yeah, I guess."

Jellal laughed at Gray, which made the 22 year old man frown.

"Don't worry about it. It's not like she's mine anymore." Jellal looked away. "I'm just glad I could finally see her in the flesh again."

Erza had not visited him once while he was incarcerated. She had been utterly destroyed when she found out that Jellal had lied to her about his identity. She had been in love with him for almost a full year, and she didn't find out about the true Jellal Fernandes until the cops got him. Erza was angry, confused, sad, but mostly, hurt. She was hurt that Jellal, the person who had told her 'I love you' so many times would deceive her like that.

From there she reluctantly proceeded to sever all ties with him.

"You aren't thinking about starting up again?" asked a curious Gray.

"How could I? She lives an honest life, and I'm nothing but a criminal. She doesn't deserve to have someone like me by her side. She deserves better, much better."

Gray watched as Jellal slumped back into his seat. He saw the pain in his eyes. He had never seen any of his comrades look the way Jellal was looking at this very moment. He looked like a man who had lost everything. Gray had never been in love before, so it was hard to relate to him. He had no way of comforting his friend.

Gray suddenly found Jellal very difficult to look at, so he turned away and looked forward, out to the road.

"Ever think about falling in love Gray?" Jellal suddenly asked.

Gray was taken aback by his friend's question. "What? Well…no, not really. And to be completely honest, you aren't making love look very appealing right now. It seems pretty damn depressing if you ask me."

Jellal chuckled at his friend's answer. "Yeah, I'm making it a tough sell, aren't I? But you know, it could help you out with your own issues. Maybe you should try finding a girl or something."

"I'll pass. You know I'm not the romantic type." Gray replied.

"Hm, well, if it ever does happen to you, don't screw it up like I did. Be better than me. Keep a tight hold on you loved one, okay Gray?"

"Uh…yeah, I'll, uh, keep that in mind." 'Whatever man' Gray thought to himself. There was no way in hell he would allow himself to feel the pain that Jellal was feeling right now. Why would he ever put himself in a position to feel such pain? It's better to just stay single, Gray thought. He had no more room for pain in his life.

Jellal sighed. "We can go now, any more time spent here and I might end up doing something I'll regret. Take me home, I gotta get ready to hit up Fairy Tail tonight. I haven't said hi to Elf or Mira yet. You gonna show up too?" he asked.

Gray shook his head as he started his car. "Nah, I'm staying in tonight."

"Figured as much. Just remember what we spoke about today, okay man?" asked Jellal.

Gray drove off and headed to Jellal's place. "Yup, I'll remember."

* * *

Gray sat alone in his dimly lit apartment.

The night had consumed Magnolia, and while others were out having themselves a good old time, Gray was alone sitting on his couch with the television on and not really paying attention to it. His time with the newly-freed man kept playing back in his mind.

It was beginning to bother him.

He kept getting messages on his phone from the gang who were all at Fairy Tail. Natsu was calling him a 'loser', Gajeel sent him a message about how close he was to throwing Natsu out of the nearest window. Mira had sent him a picture with her and Jellal; she seemed pretty happy to see him, but then again, Mira looked happy to see anyone.

It was all cute and shit, but Gray wasn't in the 'cute and shit' kind of mood.

He tossed his phone on the couch, removed his shirt and made his way to bed. No more thinking about anything, just sleep.


	3. Chapter 3: She

**AN**: I'm very happy to hear there are people enjoying this story.

Thank you for the support!

**The Kings of Magnolia**

Chapter 3: She

It was a Friday afternoon, and the sun was shining so very brightly upon the city of Magnolia. There wasn't a single cloud that dared to enter its field of vision of the city. It was nearing the end of August, but the summer wasn't letting up. It didn't matter that the season was in its home stretch. For everyone walking the city streets, it felt as though the sun was getting a few, final good punches in before it hung up the gloves. Well, till next June anyway. Then it would come back to beat the ever loving shit out of Magnolia again. That's just the way weather works in this town. Hell, all of Fiore really.

People were out and about. No one cared that the temperature was in the mid-nineties; it was hot as hell, sure, but the summer is always about getting out and cutting loose. Leave your home and accept the sun's scorching beat down. There were places to go, people to meet; it's about enjoying life and having fun. Summer is about not taking the outside world for granted.

And for three girls that shared a spacious three-bedroom apartment on the city's south side, it was about that time they made their exit. From their home that is.

"Ugh, has anybody seen my other light blue sandal? I just have one right now and I can't find the other." said a frustrated blonde-haired girl, who was frantically moving about her room searching for the missing footwear. "Where the hell did it go?"

"Nope, haven't seen a thing Lucy. You can really be disorganized sometimes, you know that?" replied a petite blue-haired girl who sat on the living room couch, lightly reading a novel.

"By the way, I forgot to ask earlier. Since Loke is driving you around today, do you mind if I borrow your car Lu?" the girl added, never taking her eyes off of her book.

"Since when did I have THAT many shoes? I never keep track of what I buy…" Lucy said to herself as she moved boxes from left to right from inside of her huge closet. "Oh, uh, yeah whatever Levy; take it, I have no use for it today." she replied to the woman reading on the couch.

Levy McGarden turned the page and adjusted her glasses "Thanks Lucy, I promise not to do any drag racing okay?"

"I trust you. Hey, is my other sandal out there by any chance?"

Levy sighed and looked at the time on her phone. It showed 4:09 PM. She thought it was a good time to finally get up. She closed her book, removed her glasses and stood up. "I haven't looked, but I guess I could help. You are letting me use your car after all."

"Damn right. Now get to looking McGarden" replied the chocolate-eyed blonde.

"Right away, Queen Lucy Hearfilia." Levy responded.

"Queen…I like the sound of that." Lucy smiled to herself.

"Don't get used to it." The petite blue-haired Levy got on her hands and knees to look under the couch. "Watch it be under here…" she mumbled.

And as she predicted, the missing sandal was indeed underneath where she was sitting.

"I found it your highness. It was under the couch" Levy pulled the sandal out and had it dangling on her finger.

Lucy exited her room and made her way to the smiling Levy. "How the hell did it end up under there?"

"I don't know." she gave the sandal back to its owner. "You own way too many shoes. You can't even keep track of them."

"I know that. But what can I say, when I want something, I just can't help myself." Lucy said as she put the sandal on. "All right, now I just have to wait for him to call me and tell me he's here."

"What are you guys doing today again?" Levy asked.

Lucy was looking at her face in the living room mirror, making final adjustments to her hair. "First we are going to grab something quick to eat, probably that sandwich spot downtown. From there, we are supposed to go watch a movie; I don't even know what we're going to see, to be honest. And then, I have to come back here and change because we are going to head over to Club Nirvana, and I have a brand new club dress to wear and I look damn good in it."

She turned back to face her friend "What does your Friday look like?"

"I'm going to use your car to go to the library; I have things to drop off, and things to find for school coming up." Levy said, knowing exactly what Lucy's response would be.

"Sounds like the best way to spend a Friday night Levy." Lucy responded, rolling her eyes; her statement was dripping with sarcasm.

Levy crossed her arms. "Well, at least I won't be spending it with a man who talks more to other girls than the one he's supposed to be dating."

Lucy cringed at that statement. "Low blow, McGarden..."

"Seriously, when are you gonna learn that Loke just isn't right for you Luce?" Levy asked.

Lucy made her way to the couch and had herself a seat. "I don't know; I feel like he has it in him to change. Maybe it's something I'm doing wrong, and I'm just not seeing it."

Her blue-haired friend made her way behind Lucy and wrapped her arms around her friend's shoulder. "You aren't doing anything wrong. You may be a bit of a dummy, but you're a good girl. You deserve better; Loke is below you."

Lucy chuckled at her friend's words. "Thanks. I guess we will see how today goes."

"God, I hate that guy. Sorry Luce." Levy released Lucy from her embrace and turned around to lean her butt on the back of the couch, looking away from her friend. "Remember when he took us all out for lunch that time, and he started making passes at Juvia? He's so gross."

"Yeah…" sighed Lucy "I'm can be so dumb sometimes; letting him get away with so much..."

Levy nodded in agreement.

"Speaking of which, where is Juvia, did she leave already?"

"No, Juvia hasn't left yet. Like Lucy-chan, she too was looking for something."

The third girl, a beautiful blue-haired, pale-skinned, young woman named Juvia Lockser, had finally made her appearance. Her long blue locks were currently tied up in a pony-tail. She wore a blue bikini top that was visible underneath a thin white tank top; it didn't do much to conceal her bust. She also had on a pair of short denim shorts that did a pretty good job of fitting with her curves. The strings on the sides of her bikini underneath the shorts were hanging on each side of her hips. Her feet were adorned with a pair of blue sandals, and a small gym bag hanging off her right shoulder.

"Juvia had forgotten where she had placed her towel. But I found it, so now I'm ready to take my leave." said the dark-eyed beauty.

"So, off to the beach again water woman?" asked Lucy.

Juvia nodded. "Yes, the weather is absolutely perfect for the beach."

"Like you need an excuse to go; you're even there when it rains." Lucy said.

Juvia smiled at her two friends. "Well, you guys already know how Juvia feels about the water."

Levy released her hold on Lucy and returned to leaning on the couch. "Do you need me to drop you off? Or maybe you want Lucy to talk to Loke about giving you a ride? I'm sure he wouldn't mind." Levy said to Juvia.

"Please, you two know I don't like bothering you guys for rides. The bus is fine with Juvia. And sorry Lucy-chan, but Loke-san makes Juvia rather uncomfortable." Juvia frowned at her blonde friend.

"Don't worry about it. But are you sure you wanna bus it again? You never let us drop you off anywhere. " Lucy responded.

Juvia shook her head and then made her way to the door, preparing to leave. "Really, it's fine. Juvia doesn't need you two to trouble yourselves just because I want to have some alone time." She said smiling.

"Juvia doesn't mind public transportation at all." she said as she gripped the doorknob.

"You're not secretly meeting hot guys behind our backs are you?" Lucy gave Juvia a devious grin.

The blue-haired beauty turned around to face her friend, cheeks stained with a light shade of red. "O-Of course not! J-Juvia doesn't have time for men right now. She has school, work, friends, and private time; that is important to Juvia, and it takes up all the time in her life. Honestly, I don't even know where you would even get that idea Lu-"

"All right, all right Juvia. I get it. Maybe you should find yourself a man, though. It could be fun! It's been far too long since I've seen you with a guy." Lucy said. "Same goes for you Levy; lord knows you need a good boning."

Levy lightly slapped her blonde friend's head. "Shut it, Heartfilia."

"Just saying, you guys could benefit from a night of good sex. Does wonders for me!" said the blonde with a wide grin on her face.

Levy just sighed at her friends comment and shook her head.

"O-Okay, J-Juvia has to go now. See you two later!" Juvia quickly made her way out the door, not bothering to hear whether or not her friends also bid her farewell.

"She can be so cute sometimes. Did you see her face? Like a damn tomato." Lucy said.

"She's adorable. I'm kind of surprised she's single."

"Well, she does get a little awkward around guys. They love her, but she always seems uncomfortable around boys." Lucy said. "I was shocked how long she lasted with Bora, to be honest. He was a boisterous and outgoing guy. He never seemed like Juvia's type. Maybe she needs to find some hot guy who is just as awkward as she is."

"All right, enough talking behind Juvia's back." Levy stuck her arm out and made a grabbing motion with her hand. "Keys please!"

"Oh shit, grab my purse; I forgot it in my room. The keys are in there." Lucy said, as Levy walked off to Lucy's room. "And what's with being all reluctant to talk about Juvia when she's not here. Don't you guys talk about me when I'm not around? I always assume you do."

Levy returned with Lucy's purse, keys now jangling off of her finger. "Here you go. And yes, we talk about you all the time when you're not around. But unlike Juvia or me, you're kind of asking for it."

"What can I say? It's tough being the one with a life." Lucy sighed. A phone then started to ring, and the noise was coming out of Lucy's purse. "That's my ride!" She got up and answered her phone, giving the man on the other line a quick response before hanging up. "Be out there in a second Loke." She put her phone back in her bag and made her way to Levy, giving her a quick hug.

"Don't wreck my car okay Levy? And pray that things go well for me this time."

"Your car is safe with me, and I'm not getting my hopes for this date you have with Loke. Hopefully you learn that you don't need him tonight. I'll pray for that." Levy responded.

Lucy sighed. "That's not quite what I wanted to hear, but I'll take it!"

The blonde woman made her way to the door. "Don't know what time I'll be back, so goodnight if I don't see you." Lucy exited the house to meet up with her date.

"Oh I'll be up. Who's gonna comfort you when you come home crying about how terrible your night was?" Levy said to no one.

* * *

At the same time on the east side of town, a black and expensive looking luxury sedan pulled out of a warehouse by the Magnolia River and made its way back into the city streets. The occupants of the car were two men: The owner of the car, Gray Fullbuster, and the passenger, Jellal Fernandes. They had just finished dropping off one hundred thousand dollars in cash in exchange for shipments of hot diamonds and other jewelry. They had the stones placed into a moving truck, where it would then be sent to one of Makarov's many safe houses.

"I guess I should feel good that I successfully moved some ice without having the cops jump us." Jellal said.

Gray had one hand on the steering wheel and had his free arm dangling out of the window. "It's fucking hot today…"

"Usually I'd tell you to button up your shirt, but I guess I could make an exception for today." Jellal responded.

Gray kept his eyes on the road and continued to drive in silence.

Jellal looked out of his window and watched the city pass him by. It looked the same as it always had. Jellal wondered to himself if Magnolia had had enough of him. The city wasn't just passing him by because the car was moving fast. No, Jellal figured that the town was moving because it had no time to wait on someone like him. Magnolia had chewed him up and spit him out. He may have had a comfortable spot as a member of the Family, but he still felt like someone who made a big bet at the casino and lost. This of course led him to think about a certain red-head that lived in Magnolia.

After a few more minutes of silence, Jellal decided to speak.

"Look, I never properly thanked you for what you did for me."

Gray raised an eyebrow

"For looking after Erza for the past two years. Thanks Gray, I really appreciate what you did for me. I know you must have felt uncomfortable doing it."

Gray cleared his throat and responded. "I felt like a stalker. It was really uncomfortable; especially since it wasn't my girlfriend I was stalking."

"Yeah, I know. Sorry about that, but I just needed to know what was going on with her. I know I don't have the right to know, but I at least wanted to be sure that she was doing okay." Jellal told him. "It wasn't something that I could bother Makarov or Laxus with. It also isn't something that I could ask Gajeel to do, and Natsu would have been caught the first day. You were the best man for the job."

Gray sighed. "I guess so."

Jellal turned to face his friend. "So…no one?

"What?"

"Erza, you haven't seen her with any guy in the past two years?"

Gray shook his head. "In the two years that I've been stalking Erza for you, I haven't seen her with a single man. And not because no one has tried to hit on her either; I've seen that happen many times, but she rejected everyone who tried. So yeah, no one."

Jellal smiled to himself. "I don't know whether that should make me happy or sad…"

'Here he goes again' Gray thought to himself. Gray knew he wasn't the guy to comfort people over their failed love lives. So he did what he always did. Just say nothing. Jellal must have felt how awkward Gray was feeling, so he decided to change the subject.

"Are you gonna ride out with Natsu tonight?"

"Why what is he doing?" Gray asked.

"I think he's gonna be at Zero's place tonight, Club Nirvana"

"To hell with that." Gray responded "Going to clubs with Natsu sucks. A fight can break out, maybe he gets too drunk; I can't be bothered to deal with that shit, especially if I don't have to."

"Well apparently gramps heard he would be there tonight and told him to be on his best behavior. We're good friends with Zero and the people running that place; it's a good spot for business too. People pop pills there, and, well, the people who supply those pills are affiliated with us. So we can't bring any attention to places like that." said Jellal.

Gray nodded. "He better not be an asshole there tonight."

"Here's hoping"

Suddenly a police siren started going off. Gray looked in his rear-view mirror and saw that it was coming from a detective's car directly behind him.

"Shit…are you fucking kidding me?" Gray said angrily.

"You holding?" Jellal asked.

Gray pulled his car over. "Gun in the glove compartment, but unless they got a warrant, they ain't searching that. And whatever, I'm a licensed gun owner anyway."

When they saw the two detectives hop out of their vehicle, Gray and Jellal were a little relieved. They still knew that they were gonna be put through a tiny bit of hell, but again, unless these guys had a warrant, there were in the clear.

"Its Doranbolt and Lahar." Jellal said.

Gray nodded. "Let's get this over with."

The two detectives made their way to each side of the car. Lahar on Gray's, and Doranbolt on Jellal's.

"Well well, what have we here Lahar? Looks like an old friend. How have you been Jellal? Finally free I see." said the scar-faced detective, pretending to be surprised at who was in the car.

The other detective who had long hair and wore glasses nodded. "Seems like it. And would you look at this, he's being chauffeured around by Gray Fullbuster. I know you haven't been strung up yet, but we will get you too eventually."

Gray was not in the mood to deal with these two. They were the two who were heads of the operation that got Jellal locked-up. A scowl was visible on his face.

"All right, out of the car you guys. Let's make this fast." Doranbolt said, as he backed away to let Jellal exit the vehicle.

"Fucking bullshit…" Gray spat out as he made is way out of his car.

"Don't start throwing a temper tantrum Fullbuster." Lahar said with a smile on his face.

The two Family members put their hands on the roof of Gray's car and proceeded to let the two detectives pat them down.

"Well, looks like I won't have to touch that sweaty, hairless chest." Lahar added.

Lahar didn't bother with Gray's upper body. Gray had on a plain white shirt that basically just hung off of his shoulders; the thing had buttons, too, but Gray didn't find it necessary to button them up, especially in this heat. He was a glorified shirt hanger. He did the bare minimum when it came to upper body wear in the summer.

Lahar just focused his attention to Gray's legs and groin, searching under his jeans and the insides of his sneakers. This annoyed the dark-haired man greatly.

"You guys fucking done? We aren't housin' shit." said Gray.

Lahar finished searching and stood back up. "Got nothing here. What about Jellal?" he said to his partner.

Detective Doranbolt finished up with Jellal and looked to Lahar. "Nah, nothing here either. Probably something in the car, but I'm sure these two citizens here know their rights." Doranbolt said with a smile. "All right ladies, turn around."

The two mobsters were now making eye contact with their harassers.

"So, Fernandes, how do you like your freedom? Feel's good I bet." Doranbolt asked.

Jellal leaned on the side of the car and sighed at the detective. "It's been fine, I guess. Although, I think the quality of some of the people out here could use some improvement. You guys are more frustrating to deal with than the inmates."

Doranbolt laughed. "That's funny! Well, just give us a reason Fernandes, and you will find yourself back in the comfort of the Magnolia Correctional Institute."

Lahar then pulled out a box of cigarettes and a lighter from his pocket. He inserted one in his mouth and lit it up, taking a deep drag and blew out a cloud of smoke in the air. "Hey Doranbolt, you know where my wife went a couple of days ago?"

"Can you blow that shit somewhere else? I'm not trying to smell like cigs." Gray told the long-haired cop.

"Shut up. I'm in the middle of something."

"Like I give a shit!" Gray remarked.

Lahar ignored him and made his way over to Doranbolt's side.

Doranbolt turned his attention towards his friend. "So where'd your wife go Lahar?" the scar-faced cop asked.

"Can we go now?" asked Jellal.

"Hold on tattoo face, you're gonna love this." Lahar took another deep hit of his smoke stick and let out another huge cloud. "You see, my wife likes getting her hair done every week, and the best salon in town is, wait for it, Mermaid Heel!"

Jellal suddenly found himself biting his lower lip, and felt his hands turning into fists.

"Oh yeah! I know that place." Doranbolt exclaimed. "That's the one with that really hot manager: Ms. Erza Scarlet." he looked over at Jellal again. "You know about her right, Fernandes?"

The blue-haired mobster did his best not to make eye contact with either cop. He decided to relax his hands and keep his eyes fixated on the pavement. He wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of seeing him angry.

"So yeah, Erza Scarlet…"Lahar pointed his two fingers that were holding his cigarette towards Jellal. "Was your girl, right Jellal?"

Jellal Fernandes continued to keeps his eyes on the ground.

Gray saw what this was doing to Jellal and wanted nothing more than to beat the shit out of the two cops who were mocking his friend. He balled his hands into fists and gritted his teeth.

"Don't know what that girl saw in you. You have that stupid tattoo on your face and you're a criminal. Hopefully she's smartened up now." Doranbolt said. "Or you know what? Maybe she has a thing for guys with weird faces. I got this scar, so maybe I have a chance. What do you think Fernandes?"

"Shut the fuck up! Don't you two have better things to do?" Gray shouted at the two detectives.

The two cops were unfazed by Gray's sudden outburst. "No, we don't actually." Lahar responded.

"I think this is pretty fun if you ask me; which you did, Fullbuster." Doranbolt added. "Anyway, back to Erza."

Jellal, again, decided against giving the two men any attention. He heard what they were saying, but did his absolute best to make it look like he didn't care. He knew it was all in vain, but he just didn't have the energy anymore. Not when Erza was the subject of the conversation. That name just seemed to suck all of the fight out of him.

Doranbolt continued. "I last saw her, like, a little before the summer began, and let me tell you something gentlemen: She is what you call a woman. She had on this tight black sweater, which did nothing to hide her rack. She's got quite a pair. She also had on this short, sunburst-colored, plaid skirt with black leggings underneath. Her height was altered by, I would say, 4 more inches because of those heels she had on. And of course, that beautiful head of red hair; Lahar you know I like red-heads." His smoking friend nodded in response. "That shit was all wrapped up in a pony-tail. Boy…the things I wanna do to her…"

Jellal did not want to hear any more of this, and he could pretty much feel the anger radiating out of Gray.

Jellal decided to just tap out.

"Listen, can we just leave. I don't want to hear any more of this." Jellal finally spoke.

Lahar threw his cigarette on the ground and crushed it underneath his shoe. "What do you say Doranbolt? Wanna show a little mercy?"

Doranbolt wore a grin on his face. He knew he got the better of the former-inmate. "Sure, why not? I got what I wanted anyway." The two detectives turned away from Gray and Jellal and started to make their way back to their car.

"You two boys better not get into any trouble now, you hear?" Doranbolt said as he opened the door to the passenger seat. "And please, both of you, don't go dragging anymore innocent girls into your shitty world. No one needs people like you in their lives. No one!" he added before finally getting in and shutting his door.

Gray and Jellal watched as the car slowly drove past them. Doranbolt was tauntingly waving goodbye at them. Gray wanted so very badly to throw a brink at his window. He would have loved to see glass shards pierce the man's throat.

Gray turned to get in his car, and Jellal did the same.

Gray started his vehicle, and looked over to his friend. He had that same look on his face from yesterday when they saw Erza; the look of the defeated.

"You okay man?" Gray asked.

"I think this city is done with me." Jellal responded.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, exactly what I said. Magnolia has no place for me in it. And it would be unfair to Erza. We could possibly end up seeing each other, we both live here after all. I can't let her see me. I don't want to hurt her anymore." Jellal pushed his seat back so his eyes were focused Gray's sunroof.

"So what are you going to do? Leave?" Gray looked at him with his eyebrows raised.

Jellal sighed. "Drop me off at Fairy Tail."

"Okay…" Gray decided not to press on. He put his car in drive, gripped the steering wheel with both hands, and proceeded to make his way to Fairy Tail.

"You going anywhere, or are you going to stay at the bar?" Jellal sat up straight and looked towards the driver.

Gray looked at the clock in his car. 5:11 PM. "I think I'm going to the beach."

"Why?" a curious Jellal asked.

Gray took one of his hands off of the steering wheel and scratched the tip of his nose. "It's the only place that won't give me shit about my unbuttoned shirt."

* * *

Gray had been sitting on a boardwalk railing for over a half hour now.

He watched the kids play in the sand and the waves crash unto the shore. The Magnolia beach was very lively, which wasn't surprising considering the heat. Gray was tempted to jump into the water himself, but decided against it. He didn't have a change of clothes, and he didn't have the patience to wait for his clothing to dry up in the sun.

The heat was starting to get to him a bit. So he hopped off the railing, placed his hands in his pockets, and made his way to one of the vending machines they had near the bathrooms. He was parched and needed a bottle of water immediately. While he was making his way to the vending machines, he heard women making remarks about his figure. Gray was annoyed by this. Every female that passed him by either did a double-take or made a comment on his 'hot body'. Hell, a few of these women even had the courage to approach the raven-haired man, but Gray quickly shot them down. He wasn't in the mood to deal with girls making passes at him. All he wanted was a bottle of water.

He arrived at his destination and looked at the selection of beverages. He found the water and was absolutely shocked at the price.

"2.50? Are you kidding me?" Gray said out loud.

"I know drug dealers that aren't that greedy. This is horseshit." Gray was appalled that someone thought that 2.50 was a fair price for a water bottle. Whoever it was, that person needed to be taken out into an alley way and beaten to within an inch of his life by Gajeel and an iron pipe.

He reached into his back pocket for his wallet and pulled out three dollars. He shook his head as he allowed the robbery to take place and inserted the cash into the machine.

Gray walked along the sand, occasionally taking gulps of his water and watched as the people enjoyed themselves at Magnolia beach. He wasn't paying that much attention though. Most of his thoughts went back to Jellal, and what he meant about the city being 'done with him'. He wasn't completely sure what he meant by that. He knew that it had a little bit to do with Erza, but that wasn't all. It must've have had to do with what they were talking about yesterday as well, about not really being comfortable in your own skin. Well he knew that was Jellal's problem, but did Gray really share that point of view? He was doubtful about his way of life, yes, but Gray still wasn't sure if it was because of boredom, or because he was doing dirt. And if it was both, then Gray really needed to figure things out. He hated being unsure about himself.

'I know you haven't been strung up yet, but we will get you too eventually'

Lahar's words still stuck in his head. He wasn't going to let that happen to him. No way in hell was he doing time. One way or another, Gray would do his best to avoid that outcome. Gramps did his best to make sure things were good for business. Incidents like Jellal being captured two years ago rarely happened. Business is usually conducted quietly and planned out with much thought. So Gray thought his best bet would be to put his faith in Makarov. What more could he do? He hadn't let him down yet.

But would he still be content with his life? Gray wasn't sure. But this was the only life he knew; he couldn't think of anything else he could possibly do. He was a criminal, and a good one at that. Why try and change life now? It's not like Gray was living for anybody else. What he did only affected him and the Family. And the Family was strong enough to go on without him if necessary. Just like they continued to be strong after they lost Jellal for two years.

So again, why the hell did Gray not feel completely at ease?

Gray sighed and took one last swing of water. He walked off the beach and found the nearest trash can to throw the empty bottle away.

He pulled out his phone and checked the time. 6:25 PM. The sun should be going down in the next hour. Gray thought it was about time he left the beach.

He gave the people enjoying the beach's water one last look before heading to his car.

And that's when something or someone rather, caught his attention, and like the women who were walking past him earlier, he did a double-take.

Gray watched a blue-haired woman emerge from the water. Her hair was soaking wet and reached well below her shoulders. She had perfect alabaster skin, and the most adorable smile Gray had ever seen.

And Gray knew it was adorable because he would never dare to use that word for anyone, even in his own thoughts. He used 'gorgeous' and 'beautiful' to describe women like Mira and Erza, but adorable wasn't a word that fit into Gray Fullbuster's vocabulary. But somehow this woman got it out of him. And he didn't even know this girl.

Gray watched as she walked back to her towel. The woman had a body that put all the other women here to shame; a great bust and an incredibly curvaceous figure. 'This is insane' Gray thought. How was this person getting such a reaction out of him? Gray rarely talked about women; anything related to the opposite sex were usually just thoughts that he kept locked up in his head. This of course leads to wise cracks from people like Natsu. Natsu would jokingly question his sexuality, much to Gray's aggravation.

Gray watched as she sat on her towel and wrapped her arms around her knees, watching out towards the horizon. Gray was stunned to see that she was all alone. He wasn't sure how a woman who looked like her didn't have a man with her. Or at least friends.

The sight of the women sitting on the towel started to get closer to Gray.

And that's when he realized that his body was acting on its own, as if possessed, and started making its way towards the mysterious blue-haired girl on the beach. Whether he really wanted to or not, he was going to find out who she was.

* * *

**AN**: I know some of you were waiting for the big Gruvia moment. But I just couldn't help myself, and decided to cut the story off right here. I hope y'all are not made or anything!

Next chapter though, you'll get what you want.


	4. Chapter 4: Let Love In Pt 1

**AN:** Again, thank you everyone for the support and the reviews. It's why I continue to do this. And also because it's fun, like watching/reading Fairy Tail (which I don't own, by the way) is fun.

So, let's let love in, shall we?

**The Kings of Magnolia**

Chapter 4: Let Love In Pt. 1

He shouldn't be doing this he thought. What he should be doing is making his way back to his car. He should be getting into the driver's seat and putting the key into the ignition. He should be driving towards either his home, where he would spend the rest of the day alone as he had been doing a lot recently, or to Fairy Tail, where his friends and associates would congregate. He should be getting back to his life as a career criminal. A life where he deals with the trafficking of expensive stolen goods, narcotics, the laundering of dirty money and everything else one would associate with the life of someone in a major criminal organization. Gray Fullbuster had things that he would consider more 'important' to do. Things that would occupy his mind from whatever doubts he was having about himself.

But here he was, still at the Magnolia beach, sun still shining down upon him and still making his way towards a young, blue-haired woman who was sitting on a towel. As he walked he noticed that she now had her eyes closed. She was probably enjoying the sun's rays, as it usually feels good when one gets out of the water and you're soaking wet. Gray was now feeling even worse about what he was about to do. Not only was he not doing what he was supposed to be doing (getting the hell out of here), but now he was going to disturb a random girl's relaxing day at the beach. And she seems very much at peace right now, too.

Again, he shouldn't be doing this.

Gray was about a foot away from the girl when he stopped. She must've really been in the zone if she couldn't hear him approach her. 'Well, I've made it this far' Gray thought to himself. His heart was pounding, and he didn't even know what to say to her. He usually found himself on the opposite end of these kinds of exchanges. Women would approach him, and he would then decide whether or not they were 'worthy' of his attention. Gray didn't have to walk up to no girl.

Right now, however, the tables had been turned and he had no idea what he was doing. He scratched his left cheek, trying to think of something to say to finally get a conversation started. But he was too nervous to think of anything. And it was kind of crazy how she still hadn't sensed his presence. She looked incredibly beautiful, though, just sitting there with her eyes closed. The sun was pounding hard on her wet body, but it did nothing to ruin her flawless pale skin. Gray hated the idea of anything happening to any part of this woman's perfect figure. Perfection like this shouldn't be messed with.

But Gray needed to say something fast; at some point people would notice that he was just standing behind a woman doing nothing but staring at her. He didn't want to look like some sort of creep.

'Fuck it' Gray thought. He decided that it was time to make himself known to this mystery woman, and just say the first thing that came to his mind. Gray cleared his throat, inhaled, held his breath for a second and exhaled.

"Um, excuse me…" Gray finally let out.

Juvia's eyes opened and she began turning her head to the source of the voice she heard.

"Yes, can Juvia hel-"Juvia cut herself off when she looked at the face of the person requesting her attention.

She had never seen someone with such a striking frame before. The first thing she noticed was the man's dark eyes. They had the kind of look that she had only seen on wild animals. She felt something dangerous about the way his eyes looked, but at the same time she also felt rather taken by his gaze, excited even. She had never felt these kinds of emotions just from looking at someone before. It was such an odd sensation, but it wasn't unwelcomed by Juvia. Not at all.

She then noticed his unruly head of raven-colored hair. It went along perfectly with his savage eyes. It looked like you could run a comb through it and it would still look disheveled, as if it were rebelling against grooming.

And of course, she couldn't ignore the man's exposed chest and abdomen. Looking at his flawless upper body, Juvia was pretty sure that this was the kind of person that spent more than a few hours at the gym a day. She was very impressed.

Gray looked back at the oceans with no end that were her dark blue eyes. He saw the shocked look on her face and became a little worried. Gray didn't know if she was disgusted by him or what. She hadn't finished what she was saying, so that could be a bad sign, he thought. Little did Gray know, he made a pretty decent first impression, he just needed to follow it up with some more words.

"Uh…" he ran a hand through his hair, not quite knowing how to follow up.

"Y-Yes…?" Juvia said, never taking her eyes off his.

"Well, I…just wanted to know…" Gray was trying his best to keep from looking like an idiot. He didn't think he was doing too well, though. "If..." Gray was mentally kicking himself. He couldn't find a single thing to say to this girl. He was making himself look like a complete fool.

"If…what?" responded the beautiful blue-haired beach goer who, unbeknownst to Gray, was still captivated by the black-haired individual.

Gray was shaking his head. He didn't know what this woman was doing to him, but he knew he didn't like it. It was almost making him angry. No one has ever made him feel this out of it before. This shouldn't be happening. He should have just left, instead of staying here just to look like a moron in front of this girl.

Gray sighed and decided to leave. He figured it was the best course of action; no reason to stay and look even more stupid. He blew it with this girl, who probably thought he was a crazy person. He might even be scaring her, he thought.

He looked into her eyes again and finally found some words to speak.

"Look, let's just forget this ever happened, okay? Sorry for wasting your time."

Gray turned his head and pivoted his feet to move and start making his way back to the parking lot. However, he found himself unable to move. A part of his body was keeping him from advancing. That's when he turned back around and saw that a small, pale-skinned hand was clutching onto his wrist.

She kept her eyes focused on his. Juvia, too, didn't know what was happening to her. She had never done anything like this; especially to someone she didn't even know. But she was certain that she didn't want him to leave yet. She had never seen anyone like him before, and she never felt anything like this before, either. She couldn't let him get away from her like that.

"Wait…please, stay." she told him, even though she was more than a bit nervous.

Gray didn't know what was happening. Did this girl not remember when he couldn't speak? Was she crazy or something? Did he really not scare her like he thought he did? The world must be screwing with him today, Gray thought. She wasn't letting go either, so she must really want him to stay. Why she wanted him around, he had no idea. He could just violently rip his hand away, but he also didn't want to risk hurting her. So, there was only one thing left for him to do.

He might as well respond.

He looked back at her eyes and spoke a single word. "Why?"

Juvia looked away from him and lowered her gaze to the sand. "B-Because…Juvia doesn't want you to leave yet; she feels like it would be better if both of us just…talked." Juvia was very confused about her feelings, but figured it would be better to try and figure them out with him. "I don't know exactly why I feel like this…" she lifted her head to meet his eyes again. "But Juvia wants you to stay!" That last comment came out a little more forceful than Juvia wanted; she hoped that it didn't freak him out.

"Um…" Gray had no idea how to respond to this. But he figured the only thing he could do was accept her request. Either that, or look like a weirdo and an asshole. "Okay then…"

"Hold on a second." Juvia released her hold of Gray's wrist. She got up from her towel and adjusted the piece of cloth from its current vertical position to horizontal. "There, now you can sit alongside Juvia without getting sand on the back of your jeans!" she gave the man a warm smile.

Gray really liked the way she smiled. It was, as he had already thought, adorable and completely welcoming. It put him at ease a bit, and made him a little less nervous than he was before.

"I, uh, appreciate that. Thanks." Gray made his way over to the where his spot was reserved: To the left of Juvia, on a black towel, looking out towards the water.

Juvia didn't watch him sit, and Gray made sure not to look at her as he got himself comfortable. They may have finally decided to accept each other's company, but that didn't mean that all of the butterflies in their stomachs had vanished.

They both sat there, watching the waves crash unto the shore. The sun was still beaming, but that would soon change in the next forty-five to fifty minutes. The night had to come eventually. The sun would be back tomorrow, however, and it would continue its reign of terror until the summer was over.

Neither of them said anything right away. They were both wondering which of them would be the first to break the awkward silence. Juvia had once again wrapped her arms around her knees with her eyes focused on the water. Gray had one of his legs stretched out and the other was bent so that he could hoop his arms around it.

After a couple more minutes of uncomfortable silence had passed, Gray was starting to become a little restless, and decided it was best to say something. Maybe this would get rid of those remaining butterflies.

"So…your name is Juvia, correct? That's, uh, a pretty name." Gray said, not knowing where that last statement came from.

Juvia instantly turned her head to her new companion with a pair of rose-tinted cheeks. She did not expect that from him, at all. She was a bit embarrassed, but it also made her happy. "T-Thank You!" she said with a bit of excitement in her tone. "Yes, that is my name. Juvia Lockser, it's a pleasure to meet you. What's yours?"

Gray turned his head to make eye contact with her. He was once again faced with that disarming smile of hers. It may be the summer, and the heat was unbearable, but he would not deny the warmth that the curving of her lips gave him. He found it all incredibly endearing.

So much so that it became his turn to blush a little. Gray could not remember if he had ever blushed before today.

"It's, um, Gray…Gray Fullbuster. And yeah, It's cool to know you as well." he responded, hoping that she didn't catch the blushing. If anyone from the Family saw this…

Juvia continued to smile at him. "Gray..." she said to herself. " Juvia thinks that name fits you well."

"Oh?" he raised an eyebrow. "You trying to imply that I'm some sort of gloomy guy?"

Juvia swiftly shook her head at the accusation. She didn't want to offend him, especially now that he was beginning to open up! "N-No! Not at all! Juvia just meant that she f-felt the name Gray fit your look and demeanor and, uh, oh that didn't come out right. P-Please do not be upset with Juvia; she didn't mean any harm by talking about your name. I wanted to find out more about you and Juvia apologizes if she made you feel terrible abo-"

Gray cut her off by letting out a small laugh. "Don't worry about it. It was a joke, I was just trying to keep mood upbeat by cracking wise. You didn't offend me at all. Although, you wouldn't be wrong if you did think that about me. A lot of people would agree with you if you did."

"Oh…" Juvia let out a relieved chuckle. "Why would anyone think that about Gray?"

"It's…just stuff. Stuff I don't really want to get into at the moment." Gray responded.

"That's fine. Gray doesn't have to tell me anything he isn't comfortable discussing. We only just met, after all." she said.

"Thanks." Gray sighed. "By the way, you have a funny way of talking, you know that?"

Juvia wasn't sure how to respond. She didn't know if he was put off by her style of talking or what. But she didn't want to do anything to push him away, so she chose to apologize to him about it. "I-Im sorry, if Gray wants Juvia to talk differently, then she will adjust her speech for him."

"Nah, don't do that, that wasn't what I meant; my fault for not being clear. It's just…different to me. That's all. And right now, I could use some 'different' in my life." Gray told the bluenette.

"Oh, okay. Well, I'm glad that Gray finds Juvia's speech appealing in some way."

That wasn't the only thing that Gray found 'appealing'. She was still quite a bit wet, and in a bikini that she did a great job of wearing. Again, no woman on the beach looked half as good as the curvy blue-haired woman.

Gray tried to get the inappropriate thoughts out of his head. He should be focusing on getting to know this girl. He can admire her beauty at another time.

"It makes you unique, so don't worry about how you talk to me. Anyway, you from around here?" Gray asked.

Juvia nodded her head. "Juvia is originally from Crocus, but now she goes to Magnolia University, works as a hostess at a restaurant, and lives in an apartment with two of her friends on the south side of town. Magnolia is my home now."

"Impressive. Looks like you're headed in the right direction." That direction was going the opposite way of Gray's. He had no idea what was going to happen to him. His life was dangerous and unpredictable; it was completely antithetical to hers.

But right now was not the time to be thinking of that. He didn't want to ruin his time with Juvia.

"Juvia thinks so too. So, what does Gray do?"

The inevitable question came up, and Gray needed to think of something quick.

"Well, I'm a…bar manager." That was the lie Gray decided to run with.

"Oh really? That must be an interesting job. I imagine you meet a lot of interesting characters." Juvia responded.

"Yeah, well, you know how bars are." he said. Juvia had no clue that the real 'characters' were the ones working behind the scenes there.

"I don't actually. Well, not entirely anyway. I never really go out to places like that. Sometimes Lucy-chan takes Juvia to places that she's not entirely comfortable with. As long as Juvia isn't alone, however, it isn't too bad, I guess." Juvia said.

"Well, uh, in that case…maybe you should consider hanging out at the bar I work at. With, um, me of course." Gray knew it was not right to ask her out like that. First of all, he sounded like a shy middle-school kid. Secondly, he shouldn't be keeping a girl like Juvia around. The closer she gets to him, the closer she gets to finding out the truth. And he didn't want that.

But what else could he do? This woman had such a hold on him. He couldn't just stop, right?

"O-Oh…um, y-yes….I'll t-think about it. Thank you for the offer." Juvia said, as she buried her face in her knees so she could hide how red her face had become.

She did not expect that. First he couldn't even say 'hi' properly, and now he was asking her out on a date? Things were moving quickly, and everything in Juvia's mind was telling her to hit the brakes and slow it down a bit. But she didn't, and it had to do with the fact that she found Gray incredibly interesting. So if he offered her another chance to spend time with him, then she felt like she had no choice but to keep that option as open as possible.

Gray gave the woman a satisfied grin. 'Glad that worked out…' he said inside head.

And she looked back at him, with a smile and flushed cheeks.

Gray ran a hand through his hair. 'Adorable' he thought.

* * *

About an hour and half had passed and the night had taken over Magnolia. Only a few people were left at the beach, and all of them were just trying to get to their cars.

Gray and Juvia had left their spot on the sand and began to make their exit. Juvia's bikini had dried up well enough to put her denim shorts and tank-top back on. She changed in front of Gray and that was the first time he thought a girl putting clothes back on looked hot. Everything fit her body perfectly.

The pair was making their way to the parking lot when Gray asked Juvia a question.

"So where's your car?"

Juvia blinked and gave Gray a quick look before returning her eyes on the path ahead of them. "Juvia came here on the bus; she has no car. So…she was thinking that she would walk you to your car and say 'goodbye' before she makes her way to the bus stop." she answered.

Gray raised an eyebrow at this. "The bus, huh? Nah, that ain't happening. You're getting a ride."

Juvia shook her head. "No, it's fine, trust me. Juvia has no problem taking the bus. She does it all the time! There is no need for Gray to trouble himself."

The dark-haired man waved her off. "Sorry, but I'm not letting you wait for no bus at night. I don't care how long you've been doing it. It just wouldn't feel right. Not only that, but I can already hear Elfman saying 'a real man doesn't let a lady wait for a bus'."

Juvia tried once more to convince Gray to let her wait for the bus. "Thank you Gray, but really, there is no need for you to waste your gas and time dropping me off!"

"You're wasting your breath Juvia; my car is right there." he pointed at his black luxury sedan. "So don't try and convince me that you'll be okay waiting for the bus. You're probably right, but I'm still taking you home."

Juvia sighed but had a small smile on her face. She didn't like bothering people for things like this, but at least it meant she'd get more time with Gray. "Very well, I will accept your offer."

They arrived at Gray's car and he opened the passenger side door for Juvia to enter. "Accept my offer? Sorry Ms. Lockser, but there really wasn't much of a choice here." he said as a sly smirk adorned his face.

Juvia giggled at his statement and took her seat on the cars black leather. She looked around the car and seemed very impressed by the high quality of the vehicle. "Juvia had no idea that being a twenty-two year old bar manager paid so well." she said as she placed her bag in the back seat.

"I do okay." Gray responded. He closed her door and went to take his place at the driver's seat. He turned on the car and pulled out of the parking lot and into the city streets.

The ride was mostly a quiet one, with Juvia occasionally speaking up to tell Gray where to go, but unlike the awkward moments of silence from earlier, this type of quite was actually rather comfortable. They had only just met, but they were peacefully enjoying each other's company like they had been doing it together all their lives.

They had gotten most of their talking done on the beach. In the near ninety minutes they had spent together, Gray had learned quite a bit about the bluenette. She was a year younger than him. She had told him that she worked at Yajima's, which is a well-known sushi place in downtown. Gray knew of it; the owner, Yajima, was actually a good friend of Makarov's and gramps ate there quite frequently. Gray had only been there a couple times; sushi wasn't his favorite thing in the world. He didn't hate it either, but he never went out of his way for sushi.

Juvia must've been off the few times he went, but now that he knew she was the restaurant's hostess, Gray thought it was a good time to finally start eating sushi again.

She had also told him about how much she loved the water. Juvia mentioned how she visited the beach frequently during the summer. She confided in Gray that she felt like her body had actually become 'one' with the water. It came off as cheesy, and Juvia knew this, but Gray had actually been taken by what she was saying and smiled at her enthusiasm. It all sounded strange to Gray and he wasn't quite sure what she was talking about, but her spirit was infectious.

Gray also found out that she had lost her parents very early in life and grew up in an orphanage. Gray didn't expect that to come out of Juvia, but it made him respect her a little more. From there, she graduated from a high school in Crocus and got accepted into Magnolia U. where she met her two best friends Levy and Lucy (or Levy-chan and Lucy-chan, as she referred to them).

Juvia had noticed that she spent most of their time on the beach talking about her. Gray didn't really say all that much about himself. He did mention to her that he worked at Fairy Tail, the most popular bar around; Lucy had been there a few times, and she had spoken to Levy and Juvia about how crowded, yet fun, that place could be. She wanted to know more about Gray, but she didn't want to push him if he wasn't ready. Gray knew that he had avoided talking about himself. And he did this for three reasons: First, he genuinely wanted to know more about Juvia. Second, he wanted to avoid slipping up about Family business; that was, after all, his real occupation. Lastly, he still wasn't ready to talk about his past; he wanted to avoid talking about that for a little longer.

"Here is Juvia's home." She spoke as she pointed to a large apartment building.

Gray looked at her home and then looked around the area. "The south side is a pretty expensive part of town. You three must really be bringing in the cash to live around here."

"Truth be told, Lucy-chan's father owns the building. He's a pretty wealthy business man. Juvia doesn't really have to work, but it builds character, so I choose to have a job." she responded.

"I can respect that." the black-haired man said.

Juvia reached towards the backseat for her bag. She placed it on her lap and sighed. "Well Gray…thank you for the ride. Juvia had a good time with you today."

Gray looked into her dark-blue eyes and nodded his head. "The feeling is mutual."

They stayed silent for a second, looking into each other's gaze.

Neither of them really wanted to say goodbye to each other. But all good things must come to an end. For today, anyway.

"So…you by yourself here right now?" Gray asked as he looked toward the entryway of her building, breaking the eye contact.

Juvia also looked toward her home. "I think Levy-chan is home. Lucy is the party girl, so she will be home late."

At that moment, Juvia realized that she hadn't used any title or honorific for Gray. She just called him by his name; he was simply Gray. She didn't know how that happened, but it didn't bother her as much as she thought it would. Juvia decided to just let it happen instead of looking for something to put at the end of his name. Besides, Gray sounds great on its own. She liked saying his name. She found no need to mess with that.

"I guess this is goodbye for now." Gray said. Juvia looked back at him, and saw that he had his hand out, expecting a handshake as their goodbye.

Juvia blinked at this, and at that moment, the blue-haired girl decided to do something a little brave.

She shook her head at him and pulled the young man into an embrace.

She had her head on Gray's right shoulder and tightly closed her eyes; her cheeks were the reddest they have been the entire day. Juvia hoped that she wasn't making Gray upset or uncomfortable by doing this. But she couldn't help herself; she didn't want him to go. So if they were going to part ways, Juvia at least wanted to have a little bit of contact before ending their day together.

Gray's eyes went wide. It was completely unexpected. He wasn't sure what to make of the situation. His arms were at each of her sides just dangling at first, but when he started regaining his senses, he slowly lifted his arms and wrapped them around her back with one hand touching one of her exposed shoulders. This sent a shiver through Gray's body. He had touched girls before (in many different ways and on many different parts), but this time had been different. Gray shouldn't have been shocked though. Everything about this girl was different, and that's why he approached her in the first place.

After a few more seconds, they slowly began to separate themselves and looked at each other. Gray had a baffled look on his face. Juvia looked a little nervous; maybe she really did make him uncomfortable.

"J-Juvia is sorry if that made Gray feel weird. That wasn't my intention, honestly!" she apologized.

"No, um, it didn't feel weird at all! I just…didn't see it coming." Gray responded.

"O-Okay then, well…" Juvia grabbed her bag again and opened the car door. She got up and gave Gray one last look before finally leaving him. "Again, thank you Gray. I'm happy to have met you today."

Gray nodded at her and she shut the door.

She began to lightly jog her way to the door when she heard Gray call out to her.

"Hold on a second! Come back." he shouted with the passenger side window down.

Juvia stopped dead in her tracks and looked back at the messy-haired Gray, a little confused.

"Your phone. Let me see your phone." he added.

"Oh! Right!" Juvia understood what he meant. She walked back towards Gray, unzipped her bag and pulled out her phone. She handed it to Gray and watched as he put his number in.

"Here, we will, uh, be in touch." he said as he handed her back her phone.

"Yes we will!" Juvia smiled at him. She turned back around and jogged towards the door again.

Gray watched as she pulled out her keys and opened the door. He saw her turn back once more to wave goodbye at him before entering her home.

He gripped his steering wheel tightly with two hands and put his forehead on the horn.

"I shouldn't be doing this…" he said to himself. Gray knew he shouldn't be getting involved with someone like Juvia. But she left such an impression on him that there really was no going back for him. He had to see her again. This could not end here. Juvia had made him smile more today than he had in the past year. That had to mean something.

This was such a weird day, Gray thought.

Gray lifted his head and sighed. He put the car in drive and drove off into the night.

* * *

Levy was sitting on the living room couch typing something on her laptop when she heard the door open.

She saw Juvia walk in and immediately noticed something was kind of different about her.

"Hello Levy-chan!" Juvia said very excitedly. Juvia began making her way past the couch and towards her room when she heard Levy speak.

"What happened?" the petite girl asked.

Juvia stopped and looked back at her friend. "What do you mean?" she said.

"Something is off. Tell me what happened." Levy continued.

"Juvia has no idea what you are talking about." Juvia retorted.

Levy shook her head. "Juvia, I'm not dumb. Okay, first of all, you have incredibly pale skin, so you can't really do much to hide those pink cheeks of yours. And secondly, you are here a little too early. Don't you take the bus everywhere? You shouldn't be home at this time. Magnolia Beach is a not really that close to our building. You should still be on that bus right now." Levy had Juvia dead to rights. "So, are you going to tell me what's up?

Juvia sighed and hung her head in defeat. There was no fooling Levy.

"Juvia got a ride home."

Levy moved the laptop off of her and got on her knees, placing her arms on the head of the couch. "From who?" she asked curiously.

"From…Gray." Juvia said, with a hint of embarrassment.

"Who's Gray?" Levy asked with a puzzled look on her face.

"He's a new fr-"Juvia was saying before Levy interrupted her.

"You met a guy! Oh man, wait till Lucy hears about this. So c'mon, spill the details, tell me what he's like!" said an excited Levy.

"Please Levy-chan, can we do this tomorrow. Juvia is actually very tired and wishes to shower and rest right now." she said, hoping Levy would drop it.

"You honestly expect me to just let you go without saying anything? No, you're telling me about this Gray character right now." Levy kept on pushing.

"Juvia promises to tell you everything about him, but please Levy-chan, be pat-"

"Nope! I'm gonna keep bugging you, so you might as well just shut-up and get over here." Levy said as she patted an empty space on the couch.

"Fine…all right."

"Yes!" Levy said cheerfully.

Juvia knew it was over. She knew resistance was futile. Levy would continue to pester her, and they both lived in the same apartment, so there was no avoiding the petite blue-haired bookworm.

But Juvia looked on the bright side: at least she had an excuse to think about Gray some more.

* * *

**AN: **I hope you all enjoyed that.

I originally wanted this to be a much longer chapter, but decided to cut it in half. This is why it's called Pt. 1. The next chapter will feature another popular FT pairing as we have a little NaLu fun. They were both headed to Club Nirvana, remember?

This also marks the first chapter to have a reference to music that I enjoy. And first, it's Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds. The chapter title is a reference to what I consider to be Nick Cave's best album: _Let Love In_. You should probably listen to it.

(There's also a Cold Cave reference in this chapter too!)

'


	5. Chapter 5: Let Love In Pt 2

**AN: **Hit the Lights! Once again, thank you for the reviews, follows and favs. By the way, I'm bumping the rating up to M, because who am I kidding?

Y'all are beautiful people.

**The Kings of Magnolia**

Chapter 5: Let Love In Pt. 2

After making her way inside her building and shutting the door behind her, Lucy removed her white heels and looked towards the staircase that led up to the apartment she shared with Levy and Juvia. She was glad to see that the lights hanging on the walls of the stairway were on; sometimes the other tenants would forget to put them on at night. It would bother Lucy a lot, but at the same time, nobody in this building stayed out as late as Lucy did. When she last checked the time, it was 2:55 AM. Lucy sighed and knew that she would have to explain everything to Levy; her short friend would want to know everything that happened to her, and Lucy had a pretty crazy night and was a little exhausted. She couldn't blame Levy though; it wasn't like Lucy had her phone on her so Levy could be in touch. She left the thing, along with her purse and house keys, in Loke's car. She was lucky that someone, probably one of the older tenants, left the front door of her building unlocked. But she knew the door to her place was locked, and that Levy would be the one to open it when Lucy knocked. Lucy was also a little afraid that Loke would be too mad at her that he wouldn't give her back her stuff. Then again, maybe Loke would be too afraid of her new 'friend' that he would just do whatever she asked of him. She felt a little bad for the orange-haired player, getting embarrassed in front of a lot of people at Nirvana like that, but at the same time, he had screwed her over far too many times (and not in a good way) for Lucy to be too sympathetic to his plight. Loke had played around with Lucy's heart for the last time. And when she gets her purse and cell-phone back from him, it would be the last time they ever willingly see each other again.

Lucy began to make her way up the stairs. She pulled down on the bottom of her tight-fitting, strap-less, blue and white club dress as she started to pick up the pace. There may not have been anyone climbing up the stairs behind her, but that didn't mean she wanted half of her ass hanging out while she made her way to her door.

She arrived at her destination. She gave the door a few good knocks and waited for a response. 'C'mon Levy, let's get this over with' Lucy thought to herself.

"Are you that drunk that I had to get up and open the door for you?" Lucy heard her friend say from behind the door.

Lucy chuckled and the door in front of her flung open to reveal Levy McGarden in her pajama bottoms and an orange tank-top.

"Sorry, but I don't have my keys on me." Lucy said as she made her way inside the apartment.

Levy closed the door and watched her blonde-haired friend collapse on the couch.

"Ugh…" Lucy let out as the couch became her temporary bed; her eyes looking towards the ceiling.

Levy made her way in front of her and placed her hands on her hips.

"So where's all your stuff? I tried texting you earlier but I got no response. I started to get a little worried."

"Sorry about that Levy, I left all of my shit in Loke's car." Lucy turned to look at her blue-haired friend. "By the way, you have Loke as a contact in your phone for these kinds of emergencies, right? I don't remember his number."

"Yeah, I do…" Levy was a little confused about the situation. Lucy never comes home without her accessories, so why did Lucy forget her stuff?

Levy tilted her head and kept her eyes on her tired roommate. "So…wanna tell me how your night was? It couldn't have been too bad if your eyes are still dry."

"Yeah, well, I don't think you're gonna be seeing that out of me again anytime soon. Loke and I are through. I'm done with his shit." Lucy responded.

Levy's eyes widened. "No way...you're kidding right? Are my ears deceiving me? Did those words actually come out of your mouth?"

"They did. And I mean it too; Loke is history, after I get my stuff back from him anyway."

"Wow…this is great news. I mean, I'm almost speechless." Levy stated.

"Good. Does that mean I can go to bed now?" Lucy asked.

Levy shook her head. "I said 'almost'. You have to tell me how this happened. Last time I saw you, you came back to get dressed up for the club. And you didn't seem too happy; you hardly spoke."

"Yeah, things were going south before Nirvana. No surprise there. But things just got to a point where I just couldn't take it anymore. I had enough of his games, and we ended it at Nirvana. I had all of my stuff in his car and he left the club by himself; that's why you had to open the door for me. Luckily, someone left the door to the building unlocked and I was able to make it upstairs."

Levy pushed Lucy's body over to make room for herself on the couch. "Wait, so Loke didn't drop you off? How did you get home then? You didn't walk home right?"

Lucy looked into her friends eyes and smiled. "Nope, I got a ride."

Levy raised an eyebrow "From whom?"

"Natsu Dragneel," Lucy said. "That's who."

"Weird name. Who's Natsu anyway? You found a new man already?"

"Maybe I did. He's a…different kind of guy." Lucy said.

"Okay, now that makes two of you." Levy crossed her arms and responded to her brown-eyed friend.

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked with a puzzled look.

"Juvia found a new man too! Met the guy at the beach; she's very taken by him as well."

Lucy's head shot up at this bit of news. "Juvia met a guy! Holy shit, now you have to tell me what you know. What's his name? What does he look like? C'mon, speak McGarden!"

"Hold on a second Lu, if you want any info from me, you have to tell me about this Natsu guy. That's the only way I'm telling you about Juvia's new boyfriend."

Lucy shrugged. "Seems fair. I talk to you about the bad times, so it only makes sense that I talk to you about the good times as well." Lucy told her friend. "So where should I start?"

"Did you meet him at Nirvana?" Levy asked.

"I sure did, so I guess that's where I'll start. Everything else before then sucked anyway."

* * *

_Club Nirvana was alive._

_The massive dance floor was covered with young men and women. They were all bumping and grinding to the fast-paced electronic music that was blasting out of the club's sound system. Some were actually moving as though the music were going five times faster than it actually was. That's how you can tell which person popped a pill before hitting the dance floor. The DJ controlling the music was standing high on a pillar, bobbing his head to the music and overlooking the crowd. The club was mostly dark, but the multicolored strobe lights would break through the darkness and paint the club patrons with whatever color the lighting system was throwing out._

_There was flight of stairs that led to the clubs second floor. That's where the restrooms and the bar were located. It wasn't as rowdy as the first floor of the club, but people were still having themselves a good time. Everyone was talkative and enjoying the surrounding atmosphere. _

_Everyone except a young blonde-haired woman who was sitting at the bar. _

_She had an elbow on the counter and her head balancing on the palm of her hand. Her face wore a frown and it was pretty easy to tell that this girl was not happy in any way. A few men tried to hit on her while she sat at the bar, but she waved them all off; she wasn't in the mood for any of that at the moment._

_Yup, this was another Friday gone wrong for Lucy Heartfilia. She had arrived at the club with her date, Loke, but he had other interests besides hanging out with the person he was supposed to be spending his Friday night with. While Lucy was left to sulk at the bar, Loke was downstairs dancing and rubbing up on girls that weren't Lucy. They're whole day together was like that. When they were out having lunch earlier, Loke spent a lot of that time hitting on the girl taking their orders. Lucy felt there was some progress made at the movie they went to go see; they had a very long make-out session during the middle of the film, but half-way through that, Loke started making eye contact with some girls that were sitting a couple rows above them. She even took his hand and placed it on one of her breasts just to get his attention. But that only worked for about a minute before he went back to being typical old Loke. _

_And now the same thing was happening here at Nirvana. Except this time he gets to actually touch the girls. This made Lucy feel like absolute shit, but at the same time she knew she did this to herself. It's not like what was happening was a recent development with Loke. He had been this way from almost the very beginning. Lucy was so attracted to him, however, that she just couldn't bring herself to end it with him. _

_He had her wrapped around his little finger, and Lucy knew it. _

_Lucy sighed and shook her. She felt pathetic. Everything Levy had ever said about the man was completely true, and Lucy knew that Levy would remind her of that when she came home crying from this night out._

"_You doing all right honey?" _

_Lucy heard someone speak, and it wasn't a male voice so she took comfort in knowing that it wasn't some guy trying to pick her up. She looked up to see a pretty, brunette, female bartender standing in front of her. She wore a brown bikini top and a white jacket that hung off of her shoulders. _

"_Seems like you're having yourself a rough night." The woman continued._

"_Yeah, you could say that." Lucy responded. She put both of her arms on the table and sat herself up straight._

"_So what's wrong? You're the only one in this place with that look on your face. When you're at a club, you're supposed to be enjoying yourself." The brunette informed the sad blonde._

"_I know, but when you have a boyfriend on the dance floor who is basically cheating right in front of you…it's hard to 'enjoy yourself' , you know?" _

"_Huh…well first off, my name is Cana, nice to meet you" said the bartender._

"_Lucy" she responded._

"_All right Lucy, is it safe to assume you won't be seeing this guy again after tonight?" Cana asked._

_Lucy let out a heavy sigh and hung her head; she was embarrassed at the answer she was about to give her._

"_It hasn't stopped me from seeing him before…"_

"_What!? You're telling me that this isn't the first time this guy has done this to you?" Cana was flabbergasted. _

"_Yeah, that's how our relationship works I guess." Lucy told her._

"_What kind of stupid relationship is this? Sorry Lucy dear, I feel bad for you, I really do, but from what I can tell you are doing a lot of this to yourself. I would never allow a man to ever pull anything like that, especially in front of my face. That's just stupid Lucy."_

_Wasn't she supposed to wait until she got home to get ripped into like this? Lucy thought. This was usually Levy's job._

"_I mean is he that great in bed that you just decide to let him walk all over you?" the brunette added._

_Lucy let out a dry chuckle. "I guess he's okay, but you and everyone else around me are right, I shouldn't allow this to carry on. I just…don't know how to end it."_

_Cana put both hands on her hips and looked straight into the blonde's eyes. "For most girls, this would be an easy thing to do. You're a different case however, so here's what you need to do. First, you're gonna go up to hi-"_

"_Hey! I need a drink!"_

"_Yeah, me too!"_

"_We're waiting over here!"_

_A bunch of people at the bar were in need of Cana's services and they let her know outright that they needed a drink._

_Cana looked towards the people requesting her attention. "Oops! I forgot I was working for a second." She looked back at Lucy. "You wait here girl, I'll be back, hopefully soon." _

_Cana made her way down to the end of the counter to get everyone their respective alcoholic beverages._

_After watching her go, Lucy started to wonder what Cana was going to say. It couldn't have been anything different than what everyone else was telling her. What Lucy needed was the backbone to go through with it. She was very frustrated with herself. Why did the orange-haired Loke have such control over her? Yeah, he was definitely attractive, no doubt about that. And like she told Cana, he wasn't too bad in the sack. But those weren't good excuses to let someone treat you like a carpet to walk on. So why couldn't she ju—_

"_Holy shit do I need a drink." _

_A voice tore Lucy away from her thoughts and she looked up to see behind the counter, a man with wild pink hair wearing a black vest, which only showed off his incredibly muscular arms. His upper body may have been covered by the vest, but Lucy figured it was safe to assume that his stomach and chest were in a similar condition to his arms. She kind of wished he would unbutton the thing. He also wore a white scarf around his neck, which confused Lucy a bit. Who wears a scarf in the summer? _

_The man grabbed a couple of bottles, a straw, and a shot glass and placed it in front of Lucy. He still hadn't noticed her._

"_Let's see, I think I'm only missing the 151…" The man said to himself. "Yo Cana! If the 151 is over there, bring that shit over. I need it."_

"_Dammit Natsu! I'm in the middle of doing my job, grab that shit yourself." The brunette yelled back at him._

'_Natsu...so that's his name' Lucy said in her thoughts._

"_All right all right, man can't she be a little nicer about it." _

_He was about to go and grab the bottle of 151 proof alcohol when he turned and saw a smoking hot blonde looking directly at him. Natsu stopped dead in his tracks and took a good look at the girl, and his black eyes met her large brown orbs._

'_Wow, she's got some pretty eyes! Her blonde hair looks good too…and damn, does she have a nice rack!' Natsu made sure to keep the comments in his head. He didn't want to risk getting an open palm on the side of his face._

_Lucy wasn't sure if she should say anything or not; she knew the man was looking at her but she didn't know what to say. This was a first for the blonde, as she usually had something to say for any situation. _

_So instead, the man with black eyes decided to be the one to take the initiative._

"_So, you gonna say something or what? You keep looking at me like you got something on your mind."_

_Lucy lifted an eyebrow at the man. "You do realize that you were also looking at me in a similar fashion, right?"_

"_Yeah, I know." The man gave Lucy a dopey smile. It made him look a little dumb, but Lucy couldn't help but find it kind of cute. "I couldn't help it though; you're a very good looking girl!"_

_Lucy smiled at the comment. "Well thank you for the compliment Mr.…?" Lucy already knew his name from Cana yelling at him, but she wanted to hear him say it._

_The man crossed his arms and leaned his upper body on the marble bar counter. He looked back into the young girls brown eyes and grinned._

"_The names Natsu Dragneel and I think my night has just gotten a whole lot better."_

_Lucy also leaned in closer and also gave him a confident grin. "Nice to meet you Natsu Dragneel; my name is Lucy Heartfilia and I don't know what my night has in store."_

_Natsu liked where this going. This Lucy girl seemed like a pretty cool chick. He wanted to keep her around longer, so he decided to be a gentleman and make the lady a drink._

"_Okay then…" Natsu stood himself back up and turned around to look at the wall of alcohol. _

"_Ah! Here we go." Natsu grabbed a bottle and set it in front of Lucy. "Here we have some gin…" Looking back under the counter, Natsu pulled out a small can, a straw and a glass with a couple of ice cubes in it. "…and here we have some pineapple juice. I'm gonna make you something to drink, and don't worry about paying; this is on me."_

"_Wow, really? But Mr. Natsu, we only just met. I don't know if I'm deserving of such a nice gesture." Lucy said, as she batted her eyes at him playfully. This was the first time today Lucy was having any kind of fun. So far, this guy was doing a great job of making her forget about Loke._

"_Ha, well don't you worry about that Ms. Hearfilia. I may not know much about you, but hell, what does that matter? Just enjoy what I got coming up for ya!" Natsu twisted open the bottle of gin and poured the clear liquid into the glass, leaving about half of it full. He then cracked open the small can of pineapple juice and filled the rest of the glass. He mixed the drink using the straw and pushed the finished product over towards Lucy._

_The pink-haired man behind the counter winked at her, dopey grin still intact. "Please, enjoy!"_

_Natsu was certainly a unique looking individual, she thought. Lucy smiled at the silly looking man and grabbed the glass. She lifted the drink and placed the straw on her lips. The blonde began sucking down the alcohol and was amazed at how delicious the beverage was. Lucy wasn't really much of a gin person; for some odd reason, she equated gin with old people. But this Natsu character really made one hell of a great tasting glass of gin. _

"_That was pretty damn good!" the brown-eyed woman said as she placed the near-finished glass of alcohol back on the counter. _

"_I knew you'd like it. I always thought it was a great tasting drink myself, but I'm glad I could share the thing with someone." Natsu said._

"_I really appreciate the drink Natsu. Now, aren't you gonna make yours?" Lucy asked him, still seeing the bottles and glass he pulled out earlier for himself taking up space on the counter._

"_Oh yeah, I forgot about that. It's because a certain pretty blonde distracted me that I couldn't get my drink on first." Natsu teased._

"_Hey, I didn't do anything else other than sit here okay. Don't go blaming me because you forgot something." Lucy teased back while mockingly putting her hands up in surrender._

_Natsu chuckled and looked back towards his own drink ingredients. "Let's see…yup, I still need that 151." _

"_Here it is asshole." Cana returned from serving her costumers and placed a bottle of 151 proof alcohol in front of the pink-haired man. "And I hope you weren't bothering this poor girl Natsu. Lucy has been having a rough day, and she doesn't need you making it worse by being annoying."_

"_Thanks Cana!" Natsu took the bottle and placed it with the others. "And what do you mean she's been having it rough?" Natsu looked back at Lucy with a confused look. "She seems fine to me. I even made the lady a drink." he looked back at the brunette. "And by the way, I was NOT being annoying."_

_Lucy's hung her head a bit. She started to remember that she came to the club with Loke and what that guy had been putting her through since, well, they started dating. Even though she hated the man for his infidelity, she felt a bit hypocritical because she was having a bit of fun with another guy. 'Two wrongs don't make a right…right?' Lucy asked herself in her mind. But Natsu was being nice to her, and he really had no reason to. Yeah, he could be trying to get her in the sack or something like that, but Natsu didn't really give off that kind of vibe. That Loke kind of vibe. _

"_Yeah, I've actually been having a pretty shit day." She lifted her head and gave Natsu a weak smile. " But you helped me forget about that for a tiny bit Natsu, so thanks for that." _

_Natsu looked back into the blonde girl's eyes and his eyebrows narrowed. They didn't exude that same confidence from earlier when they first started talking. He didn't like that. He had to get to the bottom of this. He had to find out what was screwing with his Lucy. He thought it was a little weird that he started thinking about her as 'his', but whatever, he was going to help her out. _

"_Mind telling me what's going on? I'd like to know what's got you all fucked up." Natsu said._

"_It's…nothing. Really, don't worry about it. I'll take care of it myself." Lucy let out. She knew she was feeding them bullshit, and she just hoped that they would drop it. She's heard it all before about Loke, and there wasn't anything anyone could do to change what was already happening. She couldn't find it in herself to make any sort of meaningful change about the situation._

"_That's a fucking lie. From what you already told me, it's pretty easy to tell that you aren't gonna take care of shit. You're just gonna let that guy walk all over you like you're nothing. It's pathetic Lucy. Like I said, this shit has to change." Cana said with her arms crossed._

"_Whoa! This has to do with some guy treating you like crap?" Natsu asked incredulously. "What asshole would treat a hot girl like Lucy so terribly? Like, what kind of shit does he do?" _

_Lucy sighed; she didn't want to talk about this again. The less said about her relationship with Loke, the better. It always gets her down whenever it's brought up._

_Cana decided to speak for the blonde. "So this guy she's going out with, who's also here by the way, likes to talk to other girls; and not only when Lucy isn't around, but also right in front of her. It seems like the guy can't keep his dick in his pants. I guess it's also safe to assume that this guy has also been screwing other girls behind your back Lucy?" Cana asked the blonde._

_Lucy didn't want to admit it, but it was probably true. It's not like she was with him 24/7. It only makes sense that he's had women over his place, and vice-versa. _

"_Can we please stop talking about it, I just can't…" Lucy placed both her elbows on the counter and dropped her face into the palms of her hands. _

_Natsu looked at the blonde and didn't like how shitty she was feeling. It in turn made him feel like shit. _

_And then, that anger that drove him to be the reckless person he was known for being, started to build up inside of him. _

"_Listen Lucy, I'm not saying this to make you feel worse about yourself. I just don't like seeing girls in these kinds of situations, you know?" Cana said to the sulking brown-eyed girl._

_Natsu started to look around the bar. Was he here? Who the hell is it? Who's the hell was this asshole that was doing this to Lucy?_

_Lucy lifted her head and showed both Natsu and Cana her face again. This time, her eyes were moist and looked like tears were about to drop. "I'm sorry, but I just don't know what to do…"_

_Natsu's hands turned into fists. Now Lucy was going to cry, and he wanted to put someone in the ICU._

"_My bad Lucy, I didn't want you to cry or anything! I just wanted to he-" Cana was saying before she was interrupted._

"_There you are Lucy; I was looking all over the place for you." said an orange-haired man with glasses, who crept up from behind her._

_Lucy didn't turn her head to look at him completely. She didn't want to embarrass herself in front of Natsu and Cana. She already looked like an idiot with wet eyes. _

"_Loke…" she let out._

_Cana and Natsu could both tell by Lucy's posture that this was the person responsible for her suffering. Cana had a scowl on her face and it was directed at the newcomer. Loke ignored it, however, and focused mostly on the busty blonde._

"_C'mon, let's get back downstairs. I haven't really danced with you at all tonight." said the man with the glasses._

"_That's because you were too busy feeling up on other girls." Lucy responded weakly. "Of course you didn't have time for me."_

_Natsu watched the two carefully. He tilted his head and hoped that the guy would give him a reason. _

"_Oh don't worry about that, I'm making time for you now. So let's get going babe." Loke said, waiting for her to get up from her seat._

"_No Loke, I shouldn't have to wait for you to make time for me; especially when it's other girls that are taking our time. That's not how relationships work." Lucy tried to be a little brave. She didn't want to look too pathetic. _

"_That's right, so how about you go and fuck off, okay?" Cana inserted herself into the conversation, which made Lucy sigh. She should be fighting her own battles._

"_Hey now, this chick has a mouth on her." Loke laughed and quickly dismissed the brunette. "But seriously Lucy, I surprisingly haven't danced with a blonde yet, and well, you're this best looking one here. So let's get a move on okay?" he said as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "C'mon get up now."_

"_Please Loke, can I just stay here? I'll…meet up with you later okay?" It wasn't what she should've said, but at least she didn't get up right away. That's progress for Lucy._

"_Nah babe, I need you with me now. Let's get moving." Loke took his arm off the blonde's shoulder and grabbed her wrist. _

_Lucy let out a small yelp; Loke had grabbed a little too forcefully. _

"_Stop it Loke, please." Lucy said, hoping Loke would just let her go. _

"_Uh, hey man, I think you're hurting the girl." Natsu finally spoke. He was trying his damned hardest not to cause a scene. He wanted to hurt the man so very badly, but he promised gramps that he wouldn't do anything stupid. But this Loke guy was really pushing it…_

"_Loke turned to look at Natsu. "Don't you worry pinky, everything is all right. Now take that dumb looking face of yours and go mind your own business okay? I got this under control." he looked back to the girl who he was trying to pull away from the bar. "C'mon Luce, get that ass moving."_

"_Ow! Loke please stop it. You're actually hurting me." Lucy's voice started to get a little louder. She was actually in real pain. People around the bar were starting to pay attention to the scene Loke was causing. _

_Loke had never done anything like this before. Probably because this was the first time Lucy attempted to resist him._

_Cana slowly looked to Natsu with a worried face. Nobody ever spoke to Natsu like that. And if someone did, well, it didn't end to well for them. _

_And that's when she saw Natsu smile. Uh oh…_

_All of a sudden, Natsu's right arm shot out and his hand quickly found its way around the orange-haired man's neck. Natsu pulled Loke back towards him and slammed his head on the marble bar counter, causing Loke's glasses to fall off of his face landing next to one of Natsu's bottles._

"_Holy shit, Natsu!" Cana yelled as she jumped back._

_Everything happened so fast. Lucy had no idea what to make of it. Why was this man helping her? He didn't know her that well, so why was he willing to hurt Loke for her? Lucy stepped back, not really knowing what she should do. She was never around any sort of violence before._

_People from around the bar got out of their seats in shock; some guys tried to make their way to Natsu and Loke so that they could break it up. But Natsu lifted his free hand, stopping everyone in their tracks._

"_It's okay everyone! We are not gonna fight. We are just gonna talk like men. This will be over quick. Just get back to what you were doing and ignore what you see here. I guarantee no one will be going to the hospital okay?" Natsu chuckled and brought his head down to talk into Loke's ear so that only they could hear what Natsu was going to say._

_Loke was frozen and his eyes were wide. He didn't know what to do. He was completely stunned at the man's vulgar display of power. This guy wasn't letting him make any moves and he felt the man's fingers dig into his throat. This was scaring Loke. He could tell just by the way this pink-haired man quickly snatched him up that he was no one to mess with. And Loke regretted ever saying anything to this man._

"_Look, I came here tonight to have a good time." Natsu started. "I promised gramps that I would come here, hang out, have a drink or two and just relax. No fights or anything knuckle-headed like that. But you're making it so hard…watching you treat Lucy like that, knowing all about how you can't be a faithful person to her. And of course, the way you spoke to me? That just made me wanna bust your entire shit wide open. It got me so mad that I wanted to see you eat through a fucking tube. I'm not someone who just takes shit from some fucking pretty boy; I fucking hurt people like you really badly. So I'm trying to control my emotions right now. I usually thrive off of conflict and rage, but I'm trying to be a different person. I don't wanna be that guy all the time, you know?"_

_Loke was shitting himself. He had no reason to doubt this man's words. He felt this man really had it in him to kill._

_Natsu quickly shot his head up to give everyone a reassuring smile. The people watching were still unsure of what to do. "We're all good everyone; still just talking!" _

_He looked over to the uneasy Lucy. "Don't worry Luce, I'm making sure everything is all good! You trust that I won't do anything stupid right?"_

_Trust him? She didn't even really know him. How could she trust him? He just manhandled Loke right in front of her so recklessly, and he wanted her to trust him just like that? This guy was really something else. And now he was calling her Luce like he's known her forever?_

"_Uh, yeah sure, I, uh, trust you completely Natsu." She couldn't find any other words to say to him. But really, she felt like she could place her trust in him. It was odd, but she had a feeling that Natsu had everything under control. She was the first person who was witnessing the scene to relax herself. Things would end all right._

"_Thanks Luce! I'll be with you in a second okay?" he said as he lowered his head back down to finish speaking with the frightened Loke._

"_Man, you really screwed it up. This Lucy girl is quite the catch! To be honest with you, I don't really know her that well, but I really want to change that! Maybe she could become, like, my girlfriend or something. Now that's an exciting thought. I think I'm gonna let you go now, so wish me luck with Lucy all right?" Natsu took his hand off of Loke's neck and patted the orange-haired man on the back. "Good talk!"_

_Everyone watched as Loke quickly got himself back up and grabbed his glasses, placing them back on his face. A few people asked if he was all right, but the man just ignored everyone and adjusted his shirt collar. _

_He looked towards Lucy and huffed. "Whatever, I'm out of here. Lucy, he's all yours." Loke stormed off to the first floor of Nirvana and headed out of the club. The man felt embarrassed and he didn't want to be the center of that kind of attention._

"_Uh, okay then…" Lucy said as she watched him descend the staircase. She almost wanted to chase after the man, knowing that he was probably feeling like crap at the moment. But on the other hand, he's made her feel worse many times before. And really, why would she go and mess up everything Natsu just did for her. The blonde let out a sigh. _

"_Well, now how am I supposed to get home?" Lucy asked herself._

"_Hey Lucy, come here!" she heard the pink-haired man yell. She turned to take her seat back at the bar. "Sorry about causing a scene, but we just had to work a few things out. He said I could take you home and that everything is cool." _

_Lucy shook her head and smiled. "I have a feeling that he didn't really do that much talking."_

_Natsu's signature dopey smile graced his face. "He definitely spoke less than I did. I'll say that much."_

_Lucy let out a small laugh. "Thanks Natsu, you really didn't have to do that for me. You could've gotten in trouble with security and lost your job or something."_

"_This moron doesn't work here!" Cana returned to Natsu's side and slapped him on the back of his head._

"_Hey now! What the hell was that for?" Natsu said as he placed a hand where the brunette had just hit him. "You've been mean to me way too much tonight. Is it because Gray doesn't call you anymore and you miss fucking the guy?"_

_Cana tried for another shot at Natsu's head, but missed when he ducked. "Like I said, he's a complete moron. And no, I don't even think about Gray these days; I'm over him. So don't be an asshole Natsu."_

"_Wait, if you don't work here, then why the hell are you behind the counter?" Lucy asked Natsu. _

"_Oh, we're just good friends with the guy who owns the joint. He lets us come through and dick around." He pulled the brunette standing next to him closer. "Me and Cana here are buddies. She used to go out with my boy Gray. Isn't that right Cana?" _

_The girl in the bikini top pushed the man with black eyes away from her. "That was a while ago, so stop bringing up old shit again."_

"_Whatever then…" Natsu shrugged._

_Lucy was still a bit confused. "What do you mean by 'we're just good friends'? Who are you affiliated with?"_

_Cana looked at Natsu and wondered how he would answer that. She knew what he was really all about. Between working for Zero's nightclub and dating Gray, Cana had a bit of knowledge. But that wasn't something that just anyone could know, and Natsu can't just tell some girl that he was a criminal._

"_Oh, I work at a bar you see. You might have heard of it; it's called Fairy Tail, and it's pretty popular. And my boss, and almost everyone that works there are good friends with the people who run this place here." Natsu responded. And, like Gray, saying that he worked for Fairy Tail was the lie he decided to go with. _

"_Oh yeah? I've been there a few times; it's a pretty cool place. I've never seen you there before, and I would definitely remember someone like you; a reckless pink-haired bartender." Lucy replied. _

_Natsu pointed at himself. "Oh, I'm no bartender. I'm like a manager there; I work behind the scenes. I can't make drinks for shit."_

_This puzzled Lucy. Didn't this guy make her a great tasting drink not too long ago? And wasn't he working on making one for himself too? "But you made me a drink earlier and it was fantastic. You have bottles out for yourself. What do you mean you can't make drinks?"_

"_It's really the only two drinks I know how to make; I learned from Mira back at Fairy Tail. And thanks for reminding me Luce, with everything that just happened, I forgot to quench my own thirst." Natsu grabbed the bottles and finally started working on his own drink._

"_You better not set off the sprinklers okay Natsu?" Cana looked back at Lucy. "I gotta get back to work. He's all yours girl." Lucy smiled and watched the brunette leave._

_She turned her attention back to Natsu who was beginning to make his beverage. _

"_All right, so first we take this coffee rum right here and fill half of the shot glass. Next we drop a bit of cream liqueur in there. And finally, we take this 151 and drop enough in there so that this thing will burn correctly." Natsu smiled to himself. "Okay then, now let's light this bitch up!" _

_Natsu dug into his jeans and pulled out a lighter. "You ever had a flaming shot before Lucy?"_

_The blonde shook her head. "Can't say that I have. How does it work?"_

"_Well sweetheart, I'm gonna take this lighter, spark the thing up, and then…" Natsu held the lighter over the glass and carefully dipped the small fire in. _

_At first Lucy watched as a small blue flame slowly made its way out of the alcohol. Not long after that, though, the flame suddenly burst into a wild yellow, whipping back and forth from one direction to the next. This caught Lucy by surprise and she jumped back so that the fire wouldn't touch her. _

"_Ahh! Good god Natsu, did you pour gasoline in there!?" _

_This caused a few people sitting at the bar to panic a bit. 'This guy just can't help but cause a scene!' Lucy thought. _

"_Don't worry, I got this." Natsu picked up the straw, placed it in his mouth and quickly stuck it in the glass. He sucked the brown liquid down fast enough to keep the straw from melting and with that, the flame had been devoured. _

"_Whoo! Now I'm all fired up! That tasted great. You should try it Lucy." Natsu said to the bewildered blonde._

"_I'll, uh, pass on that one for now." _

"_I think I put a little more 151 than is recommended. Oh well, it was still good." Natsu was very pleased with his work._

"_You really can be incredibly reckless, you know that?" the blonde said as she watched him put away the bottles and shot glass._

"_That's what everyone says, but I'm just having fun." he looked back at his new companion. "Hey, how about we go do some dancing?" _

"_Fine with me." Lucy said as got up from her seat, pulling down her dress in the process. She hadn't done much dancing due to Loke being Loke, so this idea was welcomed by Lucy. "But you better not do anything dumb down there." she added._

_Natsu made his way from behind the counter to where Lucy was standing, a huge smile plastered on his face. "Me do anything dumb? Never!" he grabbed Lucy's hand and began pulling her towards the stairs that led to the massive dance floor._

"_Whoa slow down! I got heels on you know!" Lucy yelled as she almost tripped. _

_The pink-haired man looked back at the brown-eyed woman. "Sorry, but I just can't contain myself. I really wanna see you move that body! I bet everyone is gonna be really jealous when that you're dancing with me!"_

_Lucy shook her head and sighed. This guy was nuts._

_But it also made her smile. _

_For once, she was with someone who wanted her to be the center of attention. It was a feeling she had almost forgotten about. And being reminded of what that felt like…well, it felt good. _

* * *

_With an arm over Lucy's shoulders, Natsu led the blonde out through the front doors of Club Nirvana. The duo were laughing and walking out towards Natsu's red pick-up truck. The laughter had been caused because of Lucy making fun of the way Natsu moved on the dance floor. Lucy correctly moved herself to the rhythm of the beat; her body was completely in sync with the music. Natsu on the other hand moved like a mad man. His arms were flailing in the air and it was clear to not just Lucy, but to everyone around them that Natsu had no clue what he was doing. But he had such a cheerful look on his, and Lucy enjoyed being with someone who was having just as much fun as she was. No matter how stupid he looked._

"_Natsu, you looked like a crazed lunatic out there!" Lucy told her companion as she continued to laugh at his expense._

"_Heh heh, yeah, I'm not really much of a dancer." Natsu replied as he chuckled and scratched the back of his head with his free hand._

"_I noticed that. Well, we're just gonna have to find another place to go for our second date. Someplace where we don't have to worry about you embarrassing us." _

"_Oh?" Natsu released Lucy from his arm, walked ahead of her and spun around to face her with a smirk on his face. "Since when were we dating?"_

_Lucy folded her arms and slowly caught up with the man. "Since you scared away the man who brought me here."_

"_Okay then. I guess I don't have a problem with that; it's not like you're boring or anything."_

"_I try not to be. That's Levy's job." A thought popped into Lucy's head at that moment. "Speaking of which I should probably call….her….shit." Lucy attempted to reach for her phone in her purse when she realized that she didn't have her purse. She left it in Loke's car._

"_What's up?" Natsu looked at her quizzically. _

"_All of my stuff is in Loke's car, and he left a couple hours ago right after you two had that 'talk'" The blonde let out a frustrated 'ugh'. "I can't believe I forgot my shit."_

"_Ah, don't worry about it. We can always go to his place and get your things." Natsu stated._

"_I would much rather not have to ever look at him again. But my purse also has my house keys, so we might have to do that." Lucy honestly didn't want to see Loke again so soon. "How about, if you don't mind chauffeuring me around, we check if someone forgot to lock the front door to my place. And if they did forget, I'll just deal with Loke on my own in the afternoon."_

"_Sure you wanna deal with him solo? He was acting pretty rough with you today. He might try that again if I'm not around." Natsu remembered how Loke had forcefully put his hands on Lucy. And if he ever saw him try that again, the pink-haired man wouldn't let him off the hook as easily as he did before._

"_It's fine, I'm pretty sure he understands that we are through, and I'm sure he knows that if he's messing with me, he's also messing with you. And I have a feeling that he doesn't want to see you anymore." The blonde said. "Besides, we might have to pay him a visit, unfortunately. The front door is almost always locked."_

"_Whatever you wanna do Lucy. Now let's get that sexy ass in my truck!" Natsu turned and continued to make his way to his truck._

_Lucy followed. "You have a way with words Natsu." _

_The man in the white scarf opened the door and helped Lucy climb into the passenger seat. _

"_Hey, I didn't think you had it in you to be a gentleman." Lucy teased. _

"_I'm just full of surprises, aren't I?" the pink-haired man closed the door and quickly made his way to his side of the automobile._

"_All right, I hope you don't mind me cranking my music up a bit. It won't be too loud, but I want it enough to distract me. I get motion sickness." Natsu warned._

"_Really? Motion sickness doesn't seem like it would be a 'Natsu' kind of problem." Lucy was a little surprised at this revelation. This guy was always in motion._

"_That's what I'm told." Natsu said as he dug in the center console for CDs. "Honestly, it's not nearly as bad as it used to be, but every once in a while it comes out of nowhere to kick me in the ass. So I'm just being cautious." _

_Natsu pulled out a jewel CD case. "Here we go! I like this one. I'll also turn on the AC so you're not melting. Heat doesn't bother me, but I obviously don't speak for everyone." Natsu pulled out the CD and inserted it into the stereo. He pulled the truck out of the parking lot and drove off towards Lucy's home._

"_So the south side right? We will be there shortly my lady!" Natsu stated._

_Lucy watched as Natsu turned up the volume. The bass quickly crept in, as it were tip-toeing and trying not to get caught. The drums then followed, then the guitars, and then the piano kicked in._

_Not that long after that, the low, lecherous voice of the singer arrived._

_**I found her on a night of fire and noise  
Wild bells rang in a wild sky  
**_

_**I knew from that moment on  
That I'll love her till the day that I died  
**_

_**And I kissed away a thousand tears  
My lady of the Various Sorrows  
**_

_**Some begged, some borrowed, some stolen  
Some kept safe for tomorrow  
**_

_**On and endless night, Silver Star spangled  
The bells from the chapel went jingle…jangle…**_

_**DO YOU LOVE ME!**_

_**Do you love me?**_

_**DO YOU LOVE ME!**_

_**Do you love me?**_

_**DO YOU LOVE ME! **_

_**Do you love me?**_

_The trucked stopped at a red light and Lucy turned to look at Natsu who was singing along to the song._

_**DO YOU LOVE ME…**_

_Natsu turned to look at the passenger and met her chocolate colored eyes and winked at her as he sung the last line of the chorus._

_**Like I love you?**_

_For the first time that day, and night, the blonde blushed._

* * *

_The red pick-up truck pulled up in front of the large apartment building._

"_Sweet place! You must have one hell of a bank account to live in the south side of Magnolia." Natsu was impressed._

"_Well, when you're father owns the building, it's not really that big of a deal." Lucy said waved it off._

"_Nice. Get it how you can." Natsu chuckled. "So, now what?"_

"_Well first…" Lucy opened her door. "I'm gonna see if that door is open. If not, we're going to Loke's." she hopped out and walked towards the front door. _

_Natsu hung half of his body out of his window. "Hey, if you want, I could always kick the door in!" he yelled._

_Lucy snapped her head back. "You moron! Don't say something that dumb so loudly. Someone might here you and take you seriously. I don't want to deal with cops at this hour."_

"_Sorry Luce, just wanted to help." Natsu continued to watch Lucy. He was rooting for the door to be locked. He wanted more time with the hot blonde._

"_Idiot." she muttered to herself. "But I guess he's my idiot now." Lucy said, smiling to herself._

_She got up to the door and reached out to grip the door knob. "C'mon…just this one time."_

_Lucy grabbed it and turned it all the way, revealing that the door had not been locked._

"_Yes!" Lucy loudly cheered._

"_Guess that means it's open?" she heard Natsu ask._

_Lucy turned around and quickly rushed towards Natsu whose upper body was still hanging outside of the truck window._

"_Yup!" she stood in front of the pink-haired man. "I guess this is goodnight." _

"_Or good morning. It's 2:55 AM." Natsu responded._

"_Yeah, it's pretty late. I better get upstairs; Levy is probably still up waiting for me and my heels are really starting to kill me." _

_Lucy leaned in closer to her new friend and placed a small kiss on his cheek. This caused Natsu to produce a huge smile. He looked so dumb when he smiled, yet it was one of the most notable things about him that she liked. _

"_Thanks again for everything. Between the free drinks, the Loke thing, and letting me watch you make a fool of yourself in front of the other club goers." This made both of them laugh._

"_You did a lot for me Natsu. I'm very grateful."_

_Natsu tilted his head. "You're acting like we're never gonna see each other again. I hope that isn't the case."_

_The blonde shook her head. "Of course not dummy. Give me your phone."_

"_What? Oh that's right!" Natsu stuck his head back into his car and grabbed his phone from the cup holder._

"_Here you go!" he gave Lucy his phone._

_She took it and punched her number in. "There, now make sure you don't forget to call me so that I can have your number."_

_Natsu snickered. "Like I'd forget something like that."_

"_Just joking." Lucy turned and started to head back to her home. "See you soon Natsu!" she waved at him as she left._

"_I'll make sure of that!" he yelled back at her. _

_He watched her open the door and disappear into the building. _

"_Ha, I know how to pick em'" The man dropped himself back into his seat, cranked the volume up again, and drove home._

_Dopey smile still intact._

* * *

"Lucy, you sure know how to pick em'" that was what Levy had to say to her friend after the blonde finished telling her about her crazy night.

"Don't I?" Lucy said, her head still resting on the arm of the living room couch.

"I suppose I should thank him when I see him. Man, I would have killed to see this Natsu guy embarrass Loke like that."

Lucy laughed. "I wonder what he'll be like tomorrow…"

"Whatever, just get your stuff back so we can finally get past that horrible chapter in the book that is your love life." the blue-haired girl said.

"Yup, and this book has gotten a whole lot more interesting after today." Lucy sighed.

Levy nodded. And then suddenly, a thought popped into her head.

"I'm so stupid. Why didn't I bring this up earlier? "

"Huh?" this got Lucy's attention. She lifted her head and looked at her friend sitting next to her.

"You said Natsu brought up a guy named Gray at some point, right?" Levy asked.

"Uh, yeah. He was making fun of that Cana girl by bringing up their old relationship. Why?"

"And he told you he works at Fairy Tail?" Levy continued.

"Yeah…what are you getting at Levy?" Lucy was very confused.

"I guess this is a good transition point. The guy Juvia met today was a guy named Gray. And he also told her that he works at Fairy Tail. As a manager, no less."

Lucy's eyes got huge. "You're…kidding right?"

"No lie, Lu. I swear that's what she told me." Levy crossed her arms and looked up towards the ceiling. "Huh, what are the chances of that?"

"That's really weird…how the hell did that happen? I mean, it's just too much of a coincidence." Lucy said, still in disbelief.

"Yeah, it seems that way. But I doubt that this was all set up." Levy got up from her spot on the couch. "I guess double dating will be easy for you guys."

"No shit. Man, I got to wake Juvia up and talk to her about this." Lucy began to get herself off of the couch.

"Hey now, I know you're very eager to compare boyfriends, but Juvia has been sleeping for a while now. I don't think it would be nice of us to just wake her up while she's in the middle of a deep sleep." Levy said. "Also, we don't want to interrupt her dreams."

"Her dreams?" Lucy raised an eyebrow.

Levy nodded and smiled. "Her dreams. When I tell you she's head over heels for this guy, it's no joke. This woman is in love."

This got a laugh out of Lucy. "Didn't I say she can be too cute?"

Levy turned and looked toward the hallway that led to Juvia's room. "Yup, absolutely adorable."

* * *

**AN: **I so wanted this chapter to be uploaded like a week ago. But so many things got in the way. And I fear that's how things are gonna be from now on. Life is getting pretty hectic now.

I hope you guys will stick around though!

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – "Do You Love Me?" (I don't own this song)

(I don't really like Pantera, but doesn't the phrase "vulgar display of power" just sound badass?)


	6. Chapter 6: To Here Knows When

**AN: **Same as always, thank you all for the support. It's crazy how much love this thing has gotten. I'm still just an amateur; this is my first story after all. But you guys have accepted it with open arms. I appreciate all y'all!

Let's Get It!

**The Kings of Magnolia**

Chapter 6: To Here Knows When

"W-What!?" Juvia couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"That's right girl, our new 'friends' know each other. Who saw that coming?" Lucy took a sip of her coffee and placed back down on the coaster.

The three girls were sitting at a large, round, glass kitchen table. Lucy had just gotten up about ten minutes ago, while Juvia had been up since eight and Levy a couple hours later. It may have been 12:15, but that was morning for Lucy. She sat with her two friends and discussed the information that each one of them had (specifically her and Juvia) on the two new men in their lives.

"It's really crazy. Like, how is it even possible that you two ended up meeting men that know each other on the same day, and not be in the same place at the same time?" Levy interjected. The petite girl sat with her legs folded on her chair. "Well whatever, I guess it makes things easier. You two don't have to worry about your boyfriends getting along."

"B-But Juvia didn't say Gray was her boyfriend! We just became acquaintances; I-It's too early to make that call. " Juvia exclaimed with pink stained cheeks.

"I'm calling it anyway. Let's not kid ourselves Juvia; I've never seen you so worked up about a guy before. We know how this will end up."

"Yup, first you two start dating, then comes the screwing, next there's a proposal, and finally little Juvias and Grays running all over the place. " Lucy added. She laughed as she watched the red-faced Juvia look down at hands folded on her lap. "You're so funny Juvia. But I do have to see this Gray person first. Then I can assess whether or not your kids will look any cute."

"K-Kids…" That was all the bluenette could say. She hadn't even kissed Gray, let alone having thoughts about children with him.

"So how are you guys going to bring this up to them? The whole dating the other's friend/co-worker?" Levy asked.

Lucy crossed her arms and looked up towards the high kitchen ceiling. "I'll probably meet up with Natsu later when I get my phone from Loke. I told him to call it so I can have his number when I get it back. From there, I'll probably just bring up Gray. It should be interesting. Hopefully he doesn't have to work today or anything."

"Juvia will just let you do that. I have work later, so I won't be able to see Gray today." Had this been a Tuesday or Friday, her two days off, Juvia would have tried to call Gray and see If they could set up a meeting. Unfortunately, her job closed at midnight on Saturday, and Juvia clocked in at 2:00 PM. So seeing Gray was out of the question today. This disappointed the pale-skinned Juvia greatly. She really wanted to see the man with wild black hair again.

Lucy brought her head back down and darted her eyes at Juvia. "Oh yeah, you're definitely letting me take you to work today. You just met Gray and you let him take you home. I'm always offering to give you a ride and you always turn me down, and we've been friends since the beginning of our college lives. That's just wrong Juvia."

"I-Im sorry Lucy-chan. It's just that Gray was….well…"

"Yeah yeah, I get it. Everything is different when love is involved." This got a sigh out of Juvia. "You still owe me though, so I'm taking you to work today and I'm picking you up. I don't want any resistance, either. I may not be a handsome man with dark-eyes, but I am your good friend and you're letting me do this for you."

"Fine, I'll let you take Juvia to work today." No point in arguing Juvia figured.

"If you're with Natsu later, who's gonna pick up Juvia?" Levy questioned.

Lucy blinked and thought it over again. "Oh yeah, that's right. Uh, that's where you come in Levy."

Levy tilted her head a bit. "What do you mean?"

"It's obvious you're not doing anything tonight, so if Natsu and I are together later, then I'll just drop off my car here and you can pick our lovely Juvia up from work."

"What makes you think I'm not doing anything tonight?" Levy said a little annoyed at her friends assumption.

Lucy placed her elbows on the table and placed her chin on top of her folded hands. "Am I wrong?"

"…No"

"I knew it. There you go Juvia. Everything is taken care of." said the blonde.

"I hate you Heartfilia." said the petite, blue-haired woman.

Lucy blew her friend a kiss. "Love you McGarden!"

Juvia got up from her chair and looked at the clock on the stove. "It's about time Juvia got ready for work. I'm going to take a quick shower now." The pale-skinned woman walked away from the table and towards her room to retrieve her towel.

"All right Juvia, just let me know when you're ready to leave." Lucy said as her friend departed from the scene in the kitchen.

* * *

Gray Fullbuster sat alone at the bar counter having himself a drink. His glass was filled with water; he saw no good reason to start consuming alcohol this early in the day. Fairy Tail had just opened, but Gray had been there an hour before the front doors were unlocked.

There was a quick meeting that took place in Makarov's office within Fairy Tail. It was there that they went over the plans for the next couple of days. Who picked up the latest delivery from the docks; who went over to every Family owned business to pick-up cash to put away in storage garages and safe houses. The bi-weekly meeting with all the bosses around Fiore took place tomorrow in Magnolia. That's where all business concerning the relationships with all the other organizations took place. Everything was usually cool between the Family and everybody. They knew the Family was top dog. And everyone was fine with that because Makarov made it clear that he wanted peace, and wanted everyone to prosper and make a living. The docks on the east side of town were the most valuable piece of land that the Family 'owned'. Most shipments of whatever was being brought over to Fiore landed there. It was too risky to send anything by air or by land, so everything was usually brought over by boat.

And the Family controlled all of this. It helped make Makarov's crew the kings of the town.

However, for a small fee each month, any other syndicate could use the docks for whatever they like. The fee was small enough that no one had any trouble paying it. They quickly made a return on their rent from the product they sold and the goods they brought in. As long as Makarov knew what came in and what shipped out, he had no problem with anyone else using his docks. People respected that about him. He didn't have to allow access to the docks. But Makarov wanted cooperation; he knew that it would be better this way in the long run. Things were vicious and violent a while ago, but with moves like this, Makarov made it clear that he sought positive communication between the groups.

It was this trait that Gray so admired about his boss.

The next couple of days would be busy for Gray and the rest of his cohorts. Everyone had a role to play. However, not everyone showed up to Fairy Tail to accept their assignments.

For some odd reason, Jellal didn't make it in to the bar. Everyone tried calling him, but no one got a response. He knew there would be a meeting today, so why didn't he show up? Gray wondered.

Makarov didn't make much of a fuss about Jellal's absence. He just asked that when someone did run into Jellal, that they fill him in on the plans. '_This isn't like you Jellal_'. Gray took a sip of his water. Jellal was always on time and up to date on everything that was happening. Truth be told, he was probably the most responsible one out of all of them. Except for maybe Laxus, who was always around gramps, and always made sure work got put in. So why Jellal decided to pull a no-show was beyond Gray's comprehension.

But all of those thoughts, about work and Jellal, got pushed to the side when a certain blue-haired woman entered his mind.

Juvia. That name had consumed Gray's thoughts since he dropped her off the night before.

Her hair, the alabaster skin, the pools of water that were her eyes, that beautiful face. Juvia dominated his brain. It was unusual for a girl to do that to Gray, but that's how things seemed to be working out.

They weren't in a relationship yet, but Gray couldn't help but think about what that would be like with a girl like Juvia. Gray didn't have much experience with relationships; most of his encounters with women were usually just one-night stands. He didn't feel the need to see any of them again.

It wasn't till the middle of last spring that he decided to give the boyfriend/girlfriend thing a shot. Cana Alberona was the 'lucky' girl. They had known each other for quite a while (through gramp's associates), and Cana was different from all the girls that Gray usually met. She was abrasive, out-spoken; she could definitely drink, that was for sure. It surprised Gray that she managed to keep her job as a bartender. Being around alcohol all the time, he figured she'd be drunk every minute of the day at work.

Their relationship seemed like a typical one at first. They went out on dates; they spent the night at each other's places. They did everything you would expect a normal couple to do. But not that long after it started, things started to feel like they were just going through the motions; mostly because Gray wasn't a very responsive boyfriend. Cana constantly called him out on it. This led to many fights between the two. It all ended in July, when Cana decided to leave Gray. She had enough of his cold and uncaring demeanor. Gray knew he was in the wrong. It was a bad time for him to start dating in the first place. He was beginning to have doubts about his place in the world and wanted to spend most of his time alone. Cana still cared enough to tell him to get his shit together; that even though it didn't work out between them, she still wanted him sort everything out. She told him that she hoped he could get it together so that one day he could open his heart to someone. Although things ended badly for the two, Gray still managed to stay friends with the brunette. And that was all he figured he could ever be with a woman. Just friends. Love wasn't something that he was capable of.

And then Juvia comes into the picture.

It was too early to call it love; they had only just met yesterday. But Juvia conjured feelings within him that no other female ever had. Cana was a different kind of girl, sure, but she still knew the same people Gray knew and was fully aware of the dirty business that he partook in. She was from the hoods of Magnolia, too. Cana just wasn't different enough. Gray still saw the same thing in her that he saw in everything else around him.

Juvia, however, was different in a way that was alien to Gray.

She was an incredibly sweet girl who worked and went to school. She wasn't involved in crime. She may have grown up in an orphanage, but she wasn't surrounded by the ugliness that was the Magnolia slums. The girl worked honestly for her money. She didn't 'put in work' for a criminal organization. The blue-haired girl was more than a pretty face to look at. She was a doorway into a world that Gray had little knowledge of. A world where you didn't have to think twice about your actions. You could be a good person and also be free of doubt.

She represented a lot to Gray. And he wanted nothing more at that moment than to be in her presence. He wanted to see her smile. It's what helped him smile. Something he didn't do much of until yesterday. Gray thought back to their meeting on the beach and already he felt the corners of his lips move upward.

"Hey now, I haven't seen you do that in a while. So who's the lucky girl?" came a high pitched voice.

Gray's head shot up and he saw Mirajane Strauss standing in front of him behind the counter, innocently smiling at him.

"W-What are you talking about?" Gray stuttered, pretty much giving himself away.

"Your smile. I don't remember the last time I've seen you do that. It's gotta be a girl right?" Mira asked.

Gray tore his eyes from the white-haired bartender and looked away. "It's nothing Mira. Just forget about it."

Mira placed her hands on her hips. "Oh c'mon Gray, at least tell me her name."

The dark-haired man shook his head and took a swing of his water. "What makes you so sure it's a girl I'm thinking about anyway?"

"Woman's intuition." was Mira's simple response.

Gray sighed at her answer. "I'll never understand that phrase."

"That's because it's called _woman's_ intuition, Gray." Mira giggled.

"Whatever." Gray finished his water and stood up. "I'll be leaving now. Did Natsu and Gajeel leave already?"

Mira placed a finger on her chin and looked up. "Hmm, Gajeel is still here, talking to Laxus about something I think. And Natsu left almost immediately. I heard him say something about calling a girl named Lucy."

'_Juvia knows someone named Lucy'_ Gray's thoughts went back to the pale-skinned woman.

Gray ran a hand through his messy black hair. "All right then, I'll be on my way now. See you later Mira." Gray turned to head for the exit.

"Bye Gray! I'm hoping to meet your new girlfriend soon!" the bartender waved goodbye at the man.

"Yeah yeah…" Gray muttered.

Gray left Fairy Tail and entered his black sedan. He had no idea what he was going to do for the rest of the day. He looked at the time on the digital clock in his car. 12:39 PM. He knew that Juvia worked, but didn't know her schedule. He looked at his phone and thought about calling her. He looked through his list of contacts and highlighted Juvia's name. He was a little nervous about calling; he didn't want to disturb her if she was already working. Again, he didn't know how her schedule worked.

"But how else am I gonna find out?" Gray asked himself.

"Fuck it, I'm calling." he pushed 'call' on his phone and brought it up to his ear.

He heard the call go through and waited for a response.

'_Please pick up. If I can't see you today, at least let me just hear you.'_

The phone kept ringing.

"C'mon…" Gray was getting antsy. It was starting to stress him out that she wasn't answering. Yeah, she could be at work, but Gray still wanted her to pick-up his call. It was selfish of him, he will admit.

The phone kept ringing.

"Shit…she must really be at work then." At that point Gray decided to give up.

He was about to tear his phone away from the side of his head when he heard a voice in his ear.

"_H-Hello?" _

This surprise got Gray to quickly sit up straight in his seat.

"Uh, hey Juvia, what's up?" Good a start as any, Gray figured.

"_Nothing special, just getting ready for work." Juvia tried not to sound too nervous; she didn't expect a call from Gray so soon. She had just gotten out of the shower and before she could even begin to dry her hair or get dressed, she heard her phone go off. Juvia looked at the name showing up on her phone and was taken by surprise. It made her happy to see that Gray was calling, but it also made her a little fidgety. She just stared at the phone for a bit, wondering what the man on the other line had to say. _

_And when she realized that she was letting it ring for far too long, she quickly answered his call before it dropped._

"Oh, work huh? Well that's a little disappointing." Gray was hoping that today was her day off, or something. He knew she had off Friday, but the same couldn't be said for today. "I was, um, thinking that we could meet up later or something, but I guess I should have asked you about your schedule yesterday. Sorry if I'm keeping you from getting prepared for your job."

"_No! It's okay." Juvia immediately responded. "Gray didn't know, and that's fine. Juvia's days off are Tuesday and Friday. If you want, we could, um, set something up for Tuesday? Or maybe tomorrow? We close at six on Sundays, and even though it's a Sunday we could still, I don't know, get together." Juvia hoped that she didn't sound too pushy. "It's up to you though! I was just making suggestions. Juvia just really wants to…see you again."_

That last statement got a wide, content grin out of Gray. Juvia always had a way of making him do that. "Yeah, I want to see you too. But Sunday is out of the question." The Family had business to take care of that would take up the majority of Sunday and Monday. Not that he was going to tell Juvia any of that. "I have…things that need taking care of on Sunday. Tuesday is fine though, I'm free that day." As much as he would like to see her sooner, he still had a role to play. He still had responsibilities; all of which were illegal.

_Juvia would happily take what she could get. "Tuesday it is then! Juvia can't wait, Gray. Um, what will we do? Juvia can't think of anything at the top of her head right now." Juvia looked down at the carpet on her floor. She wasn't the best at setting up dates and she was a bit embarrassed by that._

Gray chuckled at the woman on the other line. "Don't worry about it. We still have two days to figure that out. Look, I'll let you go, I don't wanna make you late or anything." He didn't want to hang up; hearing her voice did wonders for Gray. But he also knew when to stop being a pest.

One other thought crossed his mind, though, and he kicked himself for not thinking about it before. Maybe there was a way to see her again after all.

"Hey are you taking the bus to work? If you want, I could take you to Yajima's." He remembered her saying that she took the bus everywhere, so Gray thought he could use that as a good excuse to pick her up.

"_I would like that very much, but Lucy made it clear that she would not let me take the bus today. She said that it was a bit insulting that someone Juvia just met could drive her around, and she couldn't." Juvia would much rather it be Gray that took her to work, but Lucy did have a point._

Gray laughed a bit at what Juvia told him. This Lucy girl had a good point; she was Juvia's friend first after all. "Your friend is right. I guess it's only fair."

There was that Lucy name again. Gray remembered Mira saying something about Natsu talking about a girl named Lucy too. He pushed those thoughts aside. He was talking to Juvia and he didn't want Natsu to infiltrate his thoughts while he was talking to her.

"Anyway, I guess I'll see you Tuesday then. Have a great day at work Juvia."

_Juvia smiled and a light blush appeared on her cheeks. It felt good being told to have a good day at work. It was like they were already in a relationship. "Thank you Gray. And Juvia can't wait for Tuesday!"_

"Yeah, me either. Bye Juvia."

"_Bye Gray." _

And they both hung up.

* * *

Erza Scarlet had a longer than usual day at work, it was 6:30 which was an hour later than she usually got out. Not that she was complaining or anything. Those were the days she liked best. The place had tons of walk-ins and a lot of people who rescheduled. Mermaid Heel was the most popular salon for a reason: they had the best stylists and top-tier management. Everyone played their role perfectly at the salon. While all the women who worked there had their own style and traits that made them unique, Kagura and Miliana were the most talented of the group and they did their work to the best of the ability, easily making them the highest earners for the day.

Of course, a lot of the success of the salon also came from the way it was managed. Erza made sure that the salon exuded professionalism, but at the same time kept what made the place different from every other salon in town. She wasn't a strict boss, but she knew when to be stern with her workers. Mermaid Heel was popular before Erza became the boss; she worked her way up, starting as a stylist. But everything skyrocketed when she was put in charge. Everyone adored and respected Erza. The salon staff, the people who came in to get their hair done; anyone who met Erza quickly became a fan of hers. She was drop-dead gorgeous, kind, and damn hard worker. What wasn't there to love about her?

Erza smiled as she walked up the stairs to the front door of her building. She loved feeling a sense of accomplishment. She closed her eyes and slid the key in the doorknob. Erza entered her building and walked towards the stairs that led to her apartment. Erza was ready to sit lazily on her couch, watch some TV, maybe spoil herself with a slice of strawberry cake and relax.

"Busy day at the office?"

The red-haired woman's eyes snapped open and she stopped dead in her tracks. She recognized that voice. She could never forget it, no matter how hard she tried to. That voice belonged to a man that had torn her heart open and betrayed her trust.

She slowly turned her head to look behind her and, as expected, Erza saw the tattoo covered face of one Jellal Fernandes. He was leaning on the wall next to the door with his arms crossed. He was expressionless. He kept his eyes on hers, but he did his best to show no emotion.

"You…" anger was building up within Ms. Scarlet. It was visible on her face.

Jellal had to give it to her; even with a scowl on she still looked beautiful.

"What are you doing here? I made it clear that I never wanted to see you again!" the volume of Erza's voice slowly began to rise. "I knew two years had passed, and that you were probably out here somewhere. I dreaded the day that I would bump into you…" Erza clenched her fists tightly; knuckles starting to turn white. "So why the hell are you here!? Why are you doing this to me?" she yelled.

Jellal's faltered. He wanted to stay emotionless, but watching Erza berate him like this was too much for him to handle. A sad look came over him and he lowered his head.

"Did you come here because you wanted to see me upset? Do you get some sick satisfaction out of seeing me like this?" Erza continued her verbal assault on the blue-haired Jellal.

"I thought you were a lowlife before Jellal, but to add insult to injury? What kind of monster are you?"

Jellal cringed at that last comment. That one hurt. A monster…she used the word even. But who was he to refute those claims? As far as he was concerned, she hadn't said anything that was wrong. She had him pinned down pretty well.

"Answer me Jellal! What is the point of you being here? I thought I made myself easy to understand two years ago, but apparently I didn't do a good enough job getting through to you if your appearance here is any indication." She saw the pitiful look on his face. If he thought that that would help him gain a little sympathy from her, he had another thing coming.

"If you don't have anything to say, then just leave. I have no interest in simply watching you stand there. Go, and never show your fac-"

"I'm here today to tell you not to worry. That this will be the last you ever see of me." Jellal finally spoke, eyes still focused on the floor.

This caught Erza by surprise. What was he talking about?

"Everything you've said to me so far…it's all true. I've put you through so much pain and misery. I don't want to do that to you anymore. And living in this city is no longer an option for me. It's unfair to you as well. Why should you have to dread bumping into me every day? That's not right, Erza. I shouldn't be stressing you out like that."

"I don't need _you_ to worry about me Jellal!" she snapped at him.

"It's not just about that. In the two years that I spent up north, I had all the time in the world to think. I thought about everything. You, my life, my line of 'work'…" Jellal looked to the side, still keeping from making eye contact. "And I've come to the conclusion that I can't do it anymore. The weight is too heavy on my heart now, and being free for these past couple of days it's clear to me: I need to move on from the Family and Magnolia."

Erza didn't know how to respond. She saw how he tried to avoid her gaze. This was obviously taking a lot out of Jellal.

But for all she knew, this could all be a ruse. He has lied to her before. Jellal was a cunning man. He did keep up the good guy façade for a while before getting arrested. Erza kept her defenses up; she wouldn't let herself be fooled by him again. Fool me once…

And as if Jellal had read her mind, he spoke again. "I'm not trying to trick you Erza. I'm serious about this. Across the street right now is a taxi waiting for me. It's gonna take me to the train station down town."

Erza was obviously taken aback by this. Was she that easy to read? Erza didn't remember seeing a taxi outside, but it's not like she was looking. She just wanted to get home and rest her body.

"Listen, I'm just gonna take off now. I just wanted to see you one more time before I depart. You don't know how happy I am to witness how well you've done for yourself. It may not mean much to you coming from a career criminal, but I truly am proud of what you've accomplished, Erza."

There was a lump in Erza's throat, and she did her best to rid herself of it. She didn't want him to see what his words were doing to her. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction. But at the same time, nobody said her name like he did. It was both refreshing to hear and also infuriating. After two years in which he didn't exist in her life, he still managed to have that kind of effect on her. And here he is, telling her that she was never going to hear him say her name anymore. '_Goddamn you, Jellal Fernandes'_

Jellal turned around and tightly gripped the doorknob. "This may not be something you want to hear from, but since this is the last time we will ever converse, I also want you to know that the year we spent together was the only time I ever truly felt alive."

His words were slowly breaking her down. Erza tried desperately to keep him from breaking through her defenses. She bit her bottom lip and continued to keep her hands balled up.

Jellal then grew the courage to actually look at his former lover. "And that I still truly lo-"

"Don't!" Erza stuck out her arm and showed him the palm of her hand. She closed her eyes and looked away, refusing to meet his gaze. "Just don't, okay? All of that is in the past. We're over now. And there's nothing that can be done about it. Let's…just move on with our lives. Let's continue to move forward on our own separate paths." She opened her eyes, but still kept her vision away from the man with the tattoo on his face. Erza switched roles with Jellal.

Jellal looked her over once more before returning his eyes to the door that led to the outside world. "You're right. I shouldn't get carried away. We all make choices, and all of those choices have consequences." Jella turned the doorknob and the door opened. "Goodbye, and be safe." Jellal descended the small staircase in front of Erza's building and was about to make his way across the street before he heard his name called out.

"Jellal…" He looked back to see the beautiful Erza Scarlet standing at the door. "So…where will you be going?"

He blinked at her and shrugged. "I'll find out when I get there."

"I see…" Erza swallowed hard and turned around, showing the blue-haired man her back. "Take care Jellal, and…good luck." She stepped back into her building and shut the door.

A small smile graced Jellal's face. "Thank you." He knew she couldn't hear him, but that didn't matter. He continued onward towards the taxi that was waiting for him.

Erza leaned her back on the door she had just closed and finally broke down. She brought her hands to her eyes and started wiping away at the tears that came with her sobbing. Slowly, her body sank to where she was sitting on the floor. Erza began slamming her fists down on the floor beside her. It hurt, but nowhere near as bad as the emotional pain she was going through at the moment.

An older pudgy looking man that lived in her building came out when he heard the sounds of crying and pounding. He looked in confusion as he saw his upstairs neighbor in such a sorry state. "Are you okay, Ms. Erza?" he asked.

He got no reply. She was ignoring everything around her. Erza pulled her legs closer towards her face and hugged her knees. Still crying and still hurting.

* * *

Gray walked up the stairs to his apartment. He had driven around aimlessly for most of the day. With no work to be done and Juvia at work, he had nothing better to do than to waste gas and drive around the big city of Magnolia. It wasn't too boring though. Sometime Gray just liked driving around with no destination in mind. It was a good palette cleanser for all of his life stresses. He was paid, so gas wasn't that big a deal. And when he had it, he really appreciated his alone time.

Gray let out a content sigh and walked towards his door. He inserted the key and began to push into his apartment when he looked down and saw an envelope that was already half inside his home.

He tilted his head in bafflement and did a quick look around the hallway. He saw no one.

"Okay…" Gray opened his door and picked up the mysterious envelope. Gray studied it and saw nothing on it. No stamp, no writing; the thing was completely blank.

"What the fuck?" it made no sense to Gray. Who left this at his door?

He sat down on his expensive leather couch and gave it one more look around before he tore it open. In the unmarked envelope was a single folded piece of paper. Gray unfolded the piece of dead tree and saw writing. He began to read it to himself.

* * *

_To my dear Family,_

_I'll try to make it brief. _

_I want to thank all of you for the things you guys have done for me. All of your support has been deeply appreciated. Between the work we've put in together, the memories we've shared, and the things you all did for my safety and sanity while I was locked up, I'm immensely grateful for all the actions taken on my behalf. _

_And it is with a heavy heart that I write this letter, informing every one of you that we will no longer be working together. When you leave the Family, you must also leave Magnolia and never return. Makarov made that clear to every one of us from the very beginning. Since my release, Magnolia has made it very obvious that I no longer belong. _

_So I have decided to leave this town for good. _

_I have lost too much and cannot gain enough of it back by staying here. I'm hurting not only myself by occupying space in this city, but also others who are completely innocent. I have made my choice and I will follow through with this self-imposed exile. I'll try to make a new life for myself. To live honestly for a change. I cannot erase what I have done in the past, but I can definitely try to work on making a better future for myself. I'm sorry for letting you all know about this in such a cowardly way. I know this is pathetic, but that's how I've felt about myself recently, so it isn't too out of character for me. _

_Again, to my dear Family, thank you for everything. I wish you all nothing but the best._

_So…_

…_To Here Knows When,_

_Jellal_

* * *

Gray was both surprised and not surprised. He tossed the piece of paper on the coffee table in front of him and sunk into the leather behind him. He knew Jellal was being weird. He remembered him also implying he'd do something like this. And of course everything that surrounded his past with Erza; he knew that was a major source for a lot of his inner struggles. So in that regard, what he just read wasn't shocking at all.

But he didn't expect it to be so soon. The man just got out of prison for crying out loud! One would think that someone who just got out of prison would want to spend a little more time in his/her's hometown before bailing. But not Jellal, he just got up and left. A good, longtime friend of theirs left with only a letter left behind. Gray lazily scratched his cheek and slowly shook his head. He knew he had to show this letter to everyone. And Gray knew why Jellal left the goodbye letter at his place. It was for the same reason he had him stalk Erza while he was locked down. He was entrusted to pass this message along to the rest of the Family. And well, Gray would carry out another request in Jellal's absence. This time, however, he was never coming back.

Gray lifted his legs and laid his entire body on the couch with his head on the armrest and eyes focused on his high ceiling.

This had been a weird three-day stretch. First Jellal comes home from prison and gets Gray to speak on some of his most personal thoughts. Next, Gray meets Juvia on a beach and he hasn't stopped thinking about her since. And today, Jellal leaves again, but this time on his own accord.

Things couldn't possibly get any stranger, Gray thought.

Out of the blue, Gray hears his phone ring. He digs into his pocket and pulls it out of his jeans.

"Natsu? The hell does he want?" Gray answered his pink-haired friend's call. "What's up?"

"_Gray, my dude! How's it going man?"_

"Uh, fine I guess." The Jellal thing can wait. Gray would bring it up to the tomorrow, when everyone was in attendance. "What do you want?"

"_Calm down man, I don't want nothing, just here me out."_

Gray lifted an eyebrow. He didn't know where this was going, but he'd listen.

"_So I'm out at dinner with my new lady friend Lucy, and she just told me some pretty, um, interesting things…"_

"Okay, why should I care?" Gray was starting to get annoyed with Natsu. He didn't care about his new relationship, and if he just called to brag, then Gray would hang up right away.

"_You should care because it involves you!"_

"…Huh?"

"_Gray, I didn't know you got so nervous in front of women. Did Juvia intimidate you that much? I wish I was able to see that! I bet you blushed a lot too! Hahaha." Natsu cackled._

And with that, the day got even stranger.

Yes, this was most definitely the weirdest three-day stretch in a long time.

* * *

**AN: **And another chapter in the books! I sincerely hope you all enjoyed this one.

Sorry for the swift kick in the abdomen I gave to all the Jerza fans reading. I had to do it!

My Bloody Valentine – "To Here Knows When"


	7. Chapter 7: Face To Face

**AN: **Back like I never left!

Let's just jump right into it, okay?

**The Kings of Magnolia**

Chapter 7: Face To Face

Sitting in the driver's seat of his car, Gray Fullbuster was parked in front of the building that housed Juvia Lockser. Wearing a simple white button-up shirt (some of the buttons closer to his neck weren't quite 'buttoned-up'), some dark-colored jeans and a pair of black boots, Gray was waiting for the white-skinned woman to make her appearance. He had his arms crossed on his chest and kept his eyes on the door. He had called her a few minutes ago letting her know that he had arrived, and she told him that she would be down shortly.

If someone had asked Gray a week ago what he would be doing next Tuesday, he would have probably just shrugged and replied 'I don't know'. Maybe he would've had something Family related to do, or just say that he would be home doing nothing. Maybe Gray would tell you that he planned on driving around Magnolia for most of the day. One thing he sure wouldn't have said was that he would be on a date with some girl he met on the beach.

But here he was, waiting in his car for a girl he met on the beach. It was funny how things had worked out for the young mobster.

Actually, it was pretty funny how things had turned out in general. Last Saturday, Gray had received a call from Natsu about what this new girl of his named Lucy had told him. Apparently, Natsu had gotten himself involved with a woman who not only knew Juvia, but was also pretty damn close friends with her, too. So close, in fact, that the aforementioned Lucy was also upstairs living in the same apartment as Juvia. If that part didn't make Gray's head spin, than the other part of all of them meeting on the same day sure as hell did. How the flying fuck that happened, Gray had no idea. But as soon as the initial shock of the information Natsu had relayed to him wore off, Gray made it very clear to his loud-mouthed friend that he was to never bring up anything that related to the Family with the new girls in their lives. Natsu immediately agreed. Natsu made it known to Gray, in a surprisingly serious tone, that he was very taken with the blonde, and that he didn't want to do anything that jeopardized his relationship with her. Gray was caught a little off guard at how mature Natsu was being about all of this. But Gray also remembered how things had gone down with the pink-haired man and his last serious girlfriend, and he was sure that his friend didn't want another repeat of that nightmare. Not that Gray would ever talk about that with Natsu again; that was a rather taboo subject. Things had ended tragically for Natsu and Lisanna five years ago, and since then Natsu never really attempted to get too serious with another girl again. Sure, Natsu slept around. They all did. But there's a difference between sleeping around and getting serious with a girl.

Gray knew that all too well.

That's why no one made a big deal when Natsu talked about some girl named Lucy last Saturday. Gray had only heard through Mira, and she knew that Natsu brought up girls names regularly. Mira was pretty sure that Natsu was still hung up on her little sister, so she didn't say much about what Natsu had said about this Lucy chick. Gray rested his head on his window and wondered to himself what Mira, and her brother Elfman, would both say about Natsu getting close to another girl again.

Those thoughts immediately ended when Gray finally saw some movement coming from the front door to Juvia's building. He saw the blue-haired woman step out and begin making her way down the small staircase.

Gray exited his vehicle so that he could open the passenger side door for her. He watched as she walked towards his car. She was wearing a blue, sleeveless sundress that cut just above the knees. She had on a simple pair of white sandals and her radiant blue locks fell well below her exposed shoulders. She had on simple attire, but Gray was pretty damned impressed with how she wore it. She was stunning.

Before opening the car door for Juvia, Gray met her halfway and they both stopped in front of each other.

"Juvia, it's good to see you again." Gray spoke.

She analyzed the man with her dark-blue eyes. He was still as handsome as he was when she first met him on the beach. His hair still had that wild, unkempt quality to it; that was most definitely something she liked about him. Juvia also noticed that Gray hadn't quite gotten every button on his shirt and saw a good amount of exposed flesh around his upper chest region and the angles of his neck. This was starting to cause Juvia to produce a fair amount of heat on her cheeks.

"I-It's good to see you too Gray." She said as she lowered her head, avoiding his gaze so he didn't see her blushing.

Gray raised an eyebrow at this. "Is something wrong, Juvia?" Did he have something on his face? Was he not dressed properly? Gray didn't get it. She wasn't looking at him and that worried the man.

Juvia shook her head and raised it back up to look at him again. She had gotten over the embarrassment of looking at Gray in an inappropriate manner and locked eyes with her new companion. "No, nothing's wrong." She was spending an entire day with Gray, how could anything possibly be wrong? "Juvia is just so happy to see you again, that's all."

Gray grinned at that statement. Now that's what he wanted to hear. "Good, because I feel the exact same way about you." He turned around and went back towards his car. He opened the door for her and waited for her to enter the vehicle. "Ready to go, Juvia?"

She loved the way that he stood there holding the door for her with a confident smile on his face. He made it look so natural.

She nodded and began to make her way to her seat. "So, what's our first stop Gray?" she asked as she sat down on the black leather car seat.

Gray gave the blue sky a quick look. "Hmm, well, I am a little hungry…" He looked back down at his seated lady friend and smirked. "How about you?"

"Juvia hasn't eaten yet. I wouldn't mind grabbing something to eat with you." The woman responded.

Gray nodded his head. "All right, so how does a hot dog sound?"

* * *

"Gray! Long time no see!" said a middle-aged man with an apron on and short dark-blue hair.

"Right back at you, Macao." Gray and Juvia took their seats at Macao Conbolt's popular hot dog stand which was located smack-dab in the middle of downtown. The stand was a hit with the locals and the young adults in Magnolia. Macao made the most when drunken college students would exit the clubs that were all over the downtown area; everyone would come for a quick bite to eat before passing out at home. It was also a popular eating destination for the Family as well. Makarov became good friends with Macao and ate there often. Natsu loved the hot dogs Macao cooked up and even built up a sort of older-brother relationship with the man's son, Romeo.

Macao placed both his hands on the counter. "Where you been hiding? Haven't seen you around in a while."

"Just been busy, that's all. I plan to make myself a little more visible now, so get used to seeing me around more often again." Gray responded as he crossed his arms and leaned on the counter. "So where's Romeo? I thought he'd be hanging around here with you."

"He's out with his mother right now. They're both doing a little school shopping. He's headed into his first year of high school, you know. I hope he adjusts well, and the kids don't start pickin' on him." Macao said in a bit of a worried tone.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure that he'll take what he's learned from Natsu about defending himself." The dark-haired man said, reassuring the older Macao.

"That's also something that worries me. I don't wanna get any calls from the principle telling me that Romeo got involved in some kind of brawl. He and Natsu are so much alike in many ways; complete hotheads, the both of them." Macao added a sigh to that statement. "Anyway Gray, are you gonna introduce me to this lovely lady you got sitting beside you or what?"

"Oh, um, sorry about that. Macao this is Juvia. Juvia, this is Macao, he runs this joint." Gray watched as Juvia nodded and presented the middle-aged man with her hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Macao-san." Juvia said nodding her head.

Macao took her hand and shook it. "The pleasure is all mine dear. And I hope I'm not stepping over any sort of line here when I say that you are a beautiful looking girl. I don't know where you found her Gray, but she looks like a keeper."

"Thank you." Juvia smiled at the man's kind words.

"Yeah, she's all right." Gray looked over to the snow-skinned woman and gave her a mischievous smirk. Juvia let out a soft laugh at Gray's teasing. The sound of that was music to Gray's ears.

"Well I know the two of you didn't come here just to see me. What can get you guys?" Macao asked the two young adults.

Gray turned back to look at the older cook and responded. "Just get us two of the usual."

"The usual? You haven't been here in a while; I think I forgot what your usual was." The middle-aged man crossed his arms and grinned.

"Oh don't give me that. You remember, Macao." said the dark-haired man.

"Just kidding. Anything to drink with that?" Macao turned his back on the duo and went to grab a couple of glasses and straws for his two patrons.

Gray shrugged. "I'll just have a water. What about you Juvia?" he turned to look over at the bluenette.

"Juvia will have the same." She answered.

"Got it!" Macao returned with two glasses of water and went back to get started on their meals.

"So, what does this 'usual' look like?" Juvia asked as she turned to look at the messy-haired Gray.

He sucked a bit on his straw and looked over at her. "You'll like it. It's got chopped onions, melted cheese and honey mustard. I used to come here a lot and get it all the time when I was less busy. So yeah, you'll really enjoy it; Macao really knows his way around the kitchen and can really cook up a good dog."

"Juvia trusts you. I can't wait to try it; Juvia doesn't really eat a lot of food like this, so it'll be something new for Juvia."

"I can tell. To look that good, I guess you would have to avoid eating things like this." Gray smiled and rested the side of his head on his left fist, still keeping eye contact with Juvia. She looked especially cute today, Gray thought.

There were very few things Juvia had experienced in her life that felt as good as looking at Gray smile. And it was even better when that smile was directed at her. "Thank you Gray, but it's not that Juvia actively avoids eating this kind of food. I just never get the opportunity to indulge myself very often."

"Well feel free to let me know what other kinds of fatty foods you'd like to try. I'll see what other things we can stuff our faces with." The two had a laugh at Gray's suggestion and the duo was starting to become aware at how comfortable they were around each other. This was only their second time together, and they were jokingly talking about things they might do in the future, but the connection between the two felt more like something that was always there.

"So, it's kinda weird that, you know, Natsu and Lucy met up the same day we did. It's kinda scary, don't you think?" Gray said as he softly scratched his temple.

"Yes, that is a hard one to explain. But I don't find it too frightening; Lucy-chan needed something new. Her old boyfriend wasn't a very faithful man, and Lucy let him walk all over her. Juvia is glad that she found Natsu-san, even if he does seem a little… unstable." Juvia hadn't quite met Natsu yet, but from what she heard the guy came off sounding like a loose cannon.

"You ain't kidding. I've known that guy for a while now, and I've never met anyone as reckless as him. The guy can't help but make a scene. It can get pretty damn annoying, and I'm saying that as someone who considers him a friend." Gray chuckled. Natsu has always been a character, and as much as it could get on Gray's nerves, he wouldn't have the pink-haired lunatic any other way. He was insane, but also dependable.

Juvia nodded. "Juvia was told by Lucy-chan that he almost got into a fight over her at Club Nirvana. Apparently, Natsu-san had Lucy's ex pinned down on the bar counter and everyone rushed over thinking a fight was about to start. But Natsu-san managed to not hurt the man and everything was fine after that."

Gray's forehead landed on the palm of his handed and he shook his head. "He was told to be on his best behavior… then again, no one got hurt, so that's an improvement.

One of Juvia's eyebrows shot up at Gray's statement. "Is your friend really that violent?"

Gray sighed. "Well, he can be. But in his defense, trouble finds him most of the time. He isn't a bad guy though! And if he is serious about Lucy as he seems to be, than you can bet your ass that he will keep her protected. Your friend, believe it or not, is in good hands. Caring ones, at least."

"Hmm, I'll take your word for it Gray. And Lucy-chan seems happy now. Happier than she ever was with Loke-san, so that counts for something." Juvia said. She took to the straw in her glass and had herself a drink of water.

"That's good to hear. There aren't that many things worse in my eyes than a guy who treats a woman like trash, so it's pretty cool that one of my friends came in and ended that garbage." Gray added. "So has work been? Busy at Yajima's?"

Juvia placed both of her hands on her lap and looked forward, watching Macao fix up their lunches. "It's been steady; nothing Juvia can't handle. It's just annoying sometimes dealing with the staff. All the waiters and waitresses constantly tell me that I don't give them the right amount of costumers. That Juvia gives them too many old people, and they don't see enough tips. Some of them try to, in private, convince Juvia that she should start favoring them and all of that nonsense. I'm not there to serve them, Juvia is there to seat the costumers and make them feel welcomed!" Juvia said, unconsciously raising her voice a little too high.

Gray gave her a light laugh. "It's pretty clear that your coworkers bug you. It's not like you don't have a point though. That would annoy the hell out of me too."

"Right, but other than that, Juvia is doing okay at work. And with school coming up, I'm thinking of taking another day off so that I can have more time to dedicate to that and to myself."

"That would be nice. It could also give us more time together as well." Gray liked the idea of having more time with the bluenette.

"Oh yes! That would be amazing. Juvia would definitely use whatever free time she has to see you, Gray." Juvia wore a huge smile on her face.

"I like the sound of that. Hopefully your boss plays ball and lets you off another day."

"I think it'll work out. Juvia is a good worker and I don't see how I will be denied." Juvia said with absolute confidence. "And what about Gray? How has work been for you?"

"Hmm…" Gray knew this question was coming. Work was work for him; same old boring thing. Everyone had a route to run, a role to play. Illegal goods to smuggle and sell, and dirty money to 'wash'. And with Jellal gone, more work was left to go around. That was also crazy too; Jellal wasn't anywhere to be found. Not that anyone tried to look. Jellal made it clear that he was done with them and wanted to hit the reset button on his life. This caused a bit of an uproar with the gang, specifically with Natsu. He couldn't understand why Jellal would just up and leave like that. Initially, Natsu blamed Gray for infecting Jellal with his 'gloom'. Saying that it was Gray's fault for Jellal leaving the syndicate. But after reviewing the letter, Makarov knew that it had more to do with something that was in Jellal for a while. They all knew what went down with Erza, and how much she meant to him. And Jellal made it clear in the letter that he wanted something else for himself. Makarov told the group that they should all respect Jellal's wishes, and that they all had no choice but to move on without him. As much as it hurt Makarov to lose one of his dear children, he knew that Jellal was a grown man, and grown men make their own choices. From there, the group moved on, except with one less member of the Family.

So work hadn't been boring in that sense. Not at all. But of course, Gray couldn't share any of that with Juvia. Gray also hadn't noticed that he had been staring off into space.

"Gray…?" Juvia asked with a confused look on her face. Was he okay? Juvia was a little worried about black-haired companion.

Juvia's voice brought Gray back to the present and he snapped his head at her calling his name. "Oh! Sorry about that… just thinking about how, uh, busy Fairy Tail had been, you know?"

"Has it been that busy? Juvia knows it's a popular place; I hope being the place's manager doesn't stress Gray out too much." Juvia said in a worried tone.

"No, it's fine. Work has been manageable. Like you, it's nothing I can't handle." Truth be told, Gray doesn't know the first thing about managing a bar. Even though she was a bartender, Mira did a good job of playing manager, alongside her brother Elfman who also played the role of bouncer and security at Fairy Tail. Gray would have to remember to ask them what it is they actually do as managers. "Besides, you know Natsu is also a manager there too right? I could have him help out."

"That's right; Juvia forgot that Natsu-san also worked as manager. How does that work out between you two? Juvia imagines that there might be some crazy stories considering Natsu-san's off-the-wall personality." Juvia wondered what Gray was like when he was working. She imagined that he must've been a boss that everyone liked. Gray just exuded 'cool', so there was no way that her Gray was anything less than stellar at his job.

Juvia didn't know it, but Gray didn't have much to tell her. And that was because he was lying about working at Fairy Tail. It hurt him that he had to lie to Juvia, but he knew that it was a way of keeping her safe. But now, he had to come up with some more bullshit to keep her believing his lie. "Yeah, um, well… we…." Gray didn't know what to say. This didn't look good.

"Yes?" Juvia asked curiously.

"Uh…" Gray needed something that could help him change the subject. Just something…

"Here you go you two! Enjoy your dogs." Macao came in and placed the hot dogs in front of his two costumers. He gave Gray a knowing wink and went back into his kitchen to cook up more dogs for the other patrons at his stand.

"Thanks!" Gray said in a relieved fashion. That 'thanks' had a double meaning and only Gray and Macao knew it. Gray looked at the enormous hot dog that was sitting on his plate and gave Juvia a quick glance. "Here it is. Let's eat."

Gray picked up his lunch and began to feast. He hadn't been to Macao's stand in a while, but the older cook hadn't lost his touch at all. The thing was still delicious as hell. It made Gray want to kick himself for not coming as often as he used to. The cheese was melted just right; it sank deep into the meat and it tasted like heaven in Gray's mouth. The onions were chopped to perfection and the honey mustard was the icing on the beef flavored cake. The dark-haired man couldn't remember the last time he had such a great eating experience. It was probably the last time he was here at the stand. It probably also had something to do with the woman who was sitting right next to during the meal. Gray wondered what she thought of the food and turned his head over to look at her. He was surprised when he saw that she hardly touched any of it. Juvia had a worried look on her face and Gray wanted to know what her issue was.

"What's up? Lost your appetite or something?" he asked.

Juvia lowered her head. "Um, no it's not that. It's just that, It's really huge and… I'm not quite sure how to hold it. Juvia tries to lift it up and…" Juvia attempted to grip the giant hot dog with both her hands by the side of it and some of the onions began to fall off. The honey mustard was also spilling a bit on the paper plate. "…See?" Juvia was beginning to feel very embarrassed. She didn't want to seem like an idiot in front of Gray.

Gray softly smiled and shook his head. "Juvia, you're doing it wrong. The thing is frickin' huge, so grabbing it by the side will do you no good. Here, watch how I do it." Gray slowly lifted the gigantic hot dog by sliding his hands underneath it. By doing that Gray added support on the bottom so that the thing wouldn't fall apart and that none of the condiments and onions would fall off onto the plate below it. He took a bite out of it, chewed and swallowed. "Man that tastes great. Now give it another shot Juvia."

Juvia nodded and looked at her plate again. "Juvia thinks she knows how to work this thing now."

Gray chuckled. "It's just food; nothing that needs too much work or thinking really."

"Okay, Juvia will apply what she has learned from Gray. Here it goes." And with that, the bluenette mimicked Gray's movements and slid her hands underneath her food. She remained careful and slowly brought it to her mouth. Juvia opened up and took a huge bite. She chewed her food and raised both of her eyebrows as if she had just stumbled across some grand revelation. The taste of the dog was simply divine. Juvia wondered why she had never had anything like this before. She almost didn't want to swallow it; the dog was absolutely delicious!

Gray saw the joy in her face and grinned. "I told you it would be amazing."

Juvia finally swallowed her food and returned the smile at Gray. "Yes, you were so right Gray. This is quite the meal! Macao-san really does know how to make a good meal." All of a sudden she saw Gray begin to laugh at her. She looked around confused and didn't know where the source of Gray's laughter was coming from. He continued laughing and it was starting to bug Juvia and she furrowed her eyebrows in annoyance. "Gray, what's so funny?"

Gray calmed down a bit scratched his cheek and pointed at Juvia. "It's your face."

"My face?" Juvia repeated, still not understanding.

"Well, your mouth to be more specific. You got some onion and mustard stuck on the side of your mouth. Honestly, it looks adorable. Stay still, let me get it off." Gray picked up one of his napkins and brought it up to the side of Juvia's mouth. He began wiping what was left on her face and Juvia froze. She looked into his dark eyes and felt heat rushing to her cheeks. Juvia folded her hands and waited till Gray was finished cleaning her up. He hadn't really touched her with his actual skin, but that action alone was enough to apply a pink coloring on Juvia's pale face.

"There you go." Gray crumpled up the napkin and placed it back down on the counter.

"T-Thank you Gray…" Juvia's heart was racing and looking at Gray smile at her did nothing to slow it down. She didn't mind too much though. There wasn't much that compared to the glorious sight that was a smiling Gray Fullbuster. It filled her with complete happiness and it started to come out of her when she lifted the corner of her lips to once again return a smile back at him. This time, it was wider than before.

Juvia had no clue, but she was having the exact same effect on Mr. Fullbuster. When she flashed him that signature adorable smile of hers, his heart also began to pick up the pace. Once again, Juvia was proving how much of a different kind of person she was compared to everyone Gray knew. Male or female. He, too, began feeling that familiar sensation of heat being produced on his face. The phenomena of blushing always made Gray feel a little awkward, but he didn't deny it. He figured that if Juvia was the cause of it, then it couldn't be too bad. And he knew that if he wanted to continue seeing this woman, he would have no choice but to get used to it. Small price to pay, Gray thought.

"You're welcome… Juvia"

* * *

Gray and Juvia were walking on the same boardwalk that Gray had been at last Friday when he first met Juvia. Magnolia Beach was starting to clear out and the sun was beginning to go down. Gray figured this would be a good spot to cap-off the day with Juvia. After their lunch at Macao's, the pair went to take a walk through Magnolia City Park. It was a very serene experience for the two of them. They chit-chatted throughout the walk and both of them had such a great time just being in each other's presence. They weren't doing anything special other than walking and taking in the nature, but the two of them felt incredibly relaxed.

From there they went on a small boat ride where some guy stands on it and pushes it towards any down a path with a long pole. Juvia had heard about it from Lucy and thought that it would be a nice thing to do with Gray. She was hesitant at first to ask him, but when she finally worked up the courage to tell him, Gray simply shrugged and went along with Juvia's plan. The boat ride was mostly silent, but like their first car ride together, it was a comfortable silence. Gray had sat and looked around and watched some of the best looking parts of the city slowly move past him. He had never done anything like this before, and Magnolia looked a little different to him from the seat of a small boat. For a second he had almost forgotten that Juvia was there with him, but he was reminded when she rested her head on his shoulder. He saw that she had her eyes closed and a light smile on her face. She looked cute, Gray had to admit. He knew she wasn't sleeping; like him, Juvia was completely relaxed and it allowed her to become a little braver and make a little more contact with the man with messy black hair. Seeing her like that made the boat ride more than worth it for Gray.

And here they were, hanging out at the same beach where the first met. They weren't on the sand this time, but at the end of the boardwalk.

Gray leaned his hip on the railing and looked out towards the horizon. "Here we are again. I hope you don't mind being here for the second time in five days."

Juvia shook her head and stood looking at Gray with her hands behind her. "Absolutely not. You know Juvia loves the beach."

"Yeah, but you aren't in the water, and isn't that what you like best?" Gray asked.

"Sure, but just being near it is good enough for Juvia."

Gray chuckled. "All right, if you say so." Gray looked around at the people leaving the beach. All types of people were there getting ready to leave and make their way to their vehicles so they could all go home. There were young adults, high-school kids, elderly people and a bunch of families. One family in particular that caught his, however, was one that appeared to be led by a single mother. She had what looked like two sons who must've been around ten years of age. They were both fighting and yelling for whatever reason, and the mom had to break them up and proceeded to keep them moving off the beach and towards the parking lot. She must've been carrying all of the stuff they had brought to the beach with them; a huge cooler, towels, chairs. How that mom carried all that while keeping her sons from killing each other, Gray had no idea. He didn't understand how a mother could do that all by herself, but he had total respect for the women who could handle that on their own. Women like Ur, Gray's mother. Gray sighed and watched as the family walked off the beach. He didn't want to be reminded of Ur; there was too much pain associated with memories of her and it began to pain Gray's heart. The pain must've made its way to Gray's face, because Juvia picked up on whatever Gray was feeling.

"Gray, is something wrong?" she asked with a worried look on her face.

Gray didn't turn to look Juvia. He kept his eyes on the beach. "I'm just thinking about my mother…" He spoke before he could think. Gray didn't want to continue thinking about Ur, but he had slipped, and he couldn't just tell Juvia to forget about it. Besides, it wasn't fair; Gray knew a lot about Juvia, and she didn't know too much about him.

"Oh?" Juvia became very interested. Gray hadn't said much about his past, so maybe he was starting to open up a bit more to her. "What is she like?"

Gray turned his whole body towards the direction of the sun and placed both of his hands on the railing in front of him. "Her name was Ur and she was a strong woman. Real strong. She took care of three pain-in-the-ass children all by herself. Ur taught us right, and how to be decent people. She wasn't rough with us or anything, but she knew when to be stern. Ur knew when to lay the law down when Lyon, Ultear and I were becoming unruly. Hell, sometimes she was funny, almost inappropriately so. She was just an amazing mom overall and I miss the hell out of her…" Gray lowered his gaze and looked to the water crashing on the pillars of the boardwalk. It was taking a lot out of him to talk about his mother.

Juvia walked closer to Gray. She could sense that he was in some sort of discomfort and she knew it had something to do with his mother. She feared that maybe she had crossed the line in inquiring about Gray's mom. He was referring to his mother in the past tense, so Juvia quickly came to the conclusion that Ur was no longer among the living.

"I also gotta add something." Gray continued despite his feelings. "She wasn't my biological mother. Wasn't Lyon's either. She adopted us when our real mothers didn't want us. I guess they figured it was better to give us away than abort us." Juvia eyes were beginning to widen. She was learning more about Gray today than she thought she would.

"I'm not sure why an already single mother living in a shit part of Magnolia who worked two jobs to support her and her daughter would want to add to all that stress by adopting two kids. But that's what she did, and I'm glad she did it. And I'm really sad that she's gone."

And that confirmed it. Gray was talking about a dead mother. Juvia wasn't sure what to do. On one hand, it was great to learn more about his past. On the other hand, was it really worth it if it came at the cost of Gray's pain? Juvia figured that she should stop him, she didn't want him to continue if it hurt him that badly. "Gray, you don't have to ke-"

"It's fine." Gray said, stopping Juvia in the middle of her sentence. "It's only fair that you know more about me. You know how my mother died?" Gray continued to keep his head down and gripped the railing a little tighter. "I killed her."

If Juvia's eyes weren't wide before, they most certainly were now. What in the world did he mean when he said he 'killed her'. "G-Gray…?"

"Well, not directly anyway." Gray went on with the story. "She died because I was a piece of nine year old. We were walking towards the bus stop after doing some grocery shopping. I had this basketball with me and I kept dribbling it much to my sibling's annoyance. I remember Lyon telling me that I should have kept it home; it bugged him so much to hear me dribble for whatever reason. Same with Ultear, but she didn't say much about it; she was the more quite one of the family. Anyway, on our way to the bus stop I thought I'd try some fancy dribbling moves I had seen on TV. That's when I dribbled the ball off of my foot and the damn thing flew out into the street. I… chased after it like a dumbass, and then, uh…"

Gray was getting to the hardest part of the story and swallowed a huge lump in his throat. "I saw a truck… and it was headed right for me. I was completely fucking terrified and froze up. I thought I was gonna fucking die right then and there. And then all of a sudden I found myself flying towards the other side of the street and landed hard on my stomach. I was a little disoriented at first and I started to get my senses back when I heard Ultear screaming. I finally turned around and looked back and saw… fuck… it was… my mother had pushed me out of the way and…" Gray turned his hands into fists and closed his eyes as hard as he could. He remembered so vividly what he had seen that day. He saw the groceries all over the ground, Ultear and Lyon both with horrified looks on their faces. He remembered the people that were around the scene, scrambling around to help. The equally horrified look on the face of the man driving the truck. And of course, Ur's lifeless body. The front of the truck had struck the woman headfirst and she died instantly.

"I fucking… I fucking caused my mother's death, I…" Gray's voice was starting to crack. He felt his eyes start to create tears. He gritted his teeth and tried to compose himself, but his efforts were all in vain. The memories were too strong. He kept his eyes closed but the man started to shiver and let out a sob. Gray was ashamed of himself for looking so pathetic. He knew he ruined the day by bringing up his mother and he figured that Juvia must've felt awkward standing around a crying man. That's when he felt two hands tighten themselves around one of his fists. Gray's eyes snapped open and he saw Juvia lift his balled up hand and bring it up to her face. She had a light and reassuring smile on her face. Gray had no idea how to react. His legs were growing weak and he felt them start to wobble a tiny bit.

"That's enough Gray, you don't have to continue. Juvia understands that it's hard to talk about something like this. Juvia is just glad that she got to know more about you. Now no more, okay?" she gave his fist a light kiss and continued to look happy for Gray. The man didn't know what to do next. He kept his wet eyes on Juvia's and he looked as if he was searching for something in them. He felt another shiver and his body shook all over.

Juvia pulled Gray into an embrace and rested her forehead where Gray hadn't finished buttoning up his shirt. "I'm here Gray, don't worry. If Gray feels like he can't stand, then let Juvia know and she will be his strength. If Gray can't speak, than let Juvia know and she will be his voice. I promise to always be there for you Gray, no matter what pain you might be going through, okay?"

Gray shook his head and let more tears fall from his eyes. "B-But I… I k-killed my…" Gray was beginning to stutter and it not only hurt him, but Juvia as well. He felt Juvia shake her head.

"Juvia said that's enough, Gray. No more talking about that. Just think of your mother as the amazing woman she was okay?" Juvia pulled him tighter. "Keep in mind that Gray at least had a mother. I didn't grow up with that, Juvia was alone most of her life. Levy-chan and Lucy-chan are all the family Juvia has ever known. So don't feel like you're all alone. Juvia is here with you, and she wants to help you carry that weight. From now on, your pain is mine too. You no longer have to go through all of this by yourself. Juvia will do anything she can to make you stronger."

Gray wrapped his arms around the bluenette and placed a hand on the back of her head. "Thank you…" he let a few more tears fall and let out a small laugh. "Sorry, I really fucked up our day together, huh?"

Juvia pushed back from Gray's body and shook her head. "Absolutely not! Juvia had a fantastic day with you. And we will have many more, if Gray will have Juvia again that is."

He looked down at her dark-blue eyes and grinned. "Of course, there's no way In hell I'm not seeing you again." He wiped some of the tears from his eyes and looked back down at his woman.

Their eyes were locked on each other's and they stood there in silence, face to face. Juvia slowly began lifting herself up by her toes and started to slowly close the gap between their faces. Gray swallowed another lump in his throat and began to follow Juvia's lead. He lowered his head and caught up with Juvia, and for the first time their lips met with their arms still wrapped around the other person's body.

Again, there was nothing but silence, except for the crashing of the waves on the shore. They were alone on the boardwalk, with even the sun going down to give them their privacy.

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**AN: **Dat fluff!

How did you like it? I thought the last chapter was my strongest to date, and I'm not sure how I feel about this one compared to chapter six. Well, that's for the reviewers to speak on I guess.

So once again, thank you for reading!


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